Not where you were looking
by beggsykay
Summary: Marraige law fic. SSHG. Hermione is forced to marry Professor Snape due to a marraige law, but that is the least of her worries.
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

"Miss Granger!" She knew she had gone too far this time. She should have stopped one sentence ago, she should have never insinuated that he only had such a strong prejudice against Gryffindors purely because he was jealous of them. But she knew that, as soon as the words had left her mouth, she had gone too far and now, with one word, her Friday afternoon and most likely all of her weekend would be ruined by one word. "Detention."

"Yes Professor Snape." She mumbled as she looked down at her potion. The lilac mixture stared back at her mockingly. It was the perfect colour, the perfect temperature, the perfect everything but now, all because she had stopped Neville adding the dried ashwood too early, she would receive a zero for todays lesson. How she hated Professor Snape!

"Done worry 'Mione, he is just a greasy git. We will make sure we get you lots of sugar quills from honeydukes tomorrow ok, and maybe we can even get Fred or George to send us a trial invention to test on him."

"Thanks Ron, but no. For starters he will know exactly where it came from and I will not sink to his level, I am head girl and I have to set an example. I will be well mannered and show him that I am not some immature kid who holds 20 year old grudges!"

"Ok, but if you change your mind, the twins are only an owl away!"

"I will remember. Anyway, now that I have detention for the next three nights I have to go and finish my essays in the library, see you tomorrow morning." She waved happily at Ron and Harry before turning and running off to the library to study. She was hungry, but study was more important than food.

It seemed like only minutes had passed for Hermione when she heard the library clock chime eight times.

"Great," she mumbled to herself. "I am now officially late for detention." She quickly packed her bag and all but ran from the library, only making it a few steps out of the door when she ran into something solid.

"Miss Granger," the voice drawled. "If you are here than I would think that you are not waiting at my door for detention, and not only are you late, but I find you breaking another school rule but running in the corridors. There are reasons for rules Miss Granger and they extend to include even the likes of you and your friends for the same reasons. Now, follow me." He turned and began to make his way back towards the great hall. Slightly confused, but knowing better than to voice her confusion, Hermione followed without question.

It only took a few moments for Hermione to discover their destination. The headmasters office. Professor Snape whispered the password and ushered Hermione in before him. As they reached the top the door opened and Professor Dumbledore stood waiting for them.

Professor Snape, Miss Granger." He greeted them with I slight nod of his head. "Please come in." Hermione followed Professor Dumbledore and sat in one of the offered chairs. When she turned to see if Professor Snape had followed her she was surprised to see that he was no longer there, she had not even heard the door re-open.

"Professor," she asked, turning her attention back to the headmaster, "I thought I was meant to be having detention with Professor Snape. Could you please explain what is going on?"

"Certainly Miss Granger, and I think it best in these times to get straight to the point. In approximately three and a half hours a law will be passed that will affect you greatly. Professor Snape has been trying to give you detention for the last 3 days so that we could have an opportunity to speak with you away from Misters Potter and Wesley and because of your exceptional behaviour over those days we decided it was necessary to provoke you so that you would give him a reason to give you detention as tonight is our last opportunity. As such I am sorry to say that you will not have much time to come to terms with all of this but I am afraid that in times like this it is sometimes far more imperative that we secure someones safety before we secure their happiness." Hermione was looking thoroughly confused by this stage and so she picked out the one part of the conversation that made sense to her and pursued that line of thought.

"What do you mean he set me up for detention? I knew that helping Neville wasn't worth the deduction of 50 house points and now I am going to get a zero on my work all because you wanted to see me without Harry or Ron knowing." She said calmly, trying her hardest to sound polite and respecting. "With all due respect Sir I think I shall quote Ron for a moment and call him a greasy git!" The headmaster merely chuckled at this remark, it was the voice that suddenly came from behind her that caused her to jump.

"Miss Granger, however true or false that statement may be I would believe you to be above petty name calling." Hermione spun around in her chair to discover Professor Snape standing no more than a foot away.

"I-I-I-I'm so sorry Sir, I thought you had left, I mean, you weren't here anymore and I thought-"

"You thought wrong Miss Granger." He interrupted her ramblings with his harsh words and Hermione turned back to look at Professor Dumbledore, her face slowly turning red.

"Do not fret Miss Granger," came the warm voice of the headmaster, "you will not be receiving a zero, nor will you house lose those points."

"Headmaster I understand the points being reinstated to the house but as for her mark, this was a punishment handed out due to a rather rude comment she made and I believe this punishment should still be enforced."

"No Severus, you provoked her, under my instructions, so that this meeting could be arranged. I will not have her school work suffer for my actions. Now, however, we must get to the point. Miss Granger," he turned his attention back to her, "this law, it is a marriage law stating that all muggle born witches and wizards must marry a half blood or pure blood wizard or witch. There are a great deal many more details but in short wizards will petition for you. After receiving your first petition you will have seven days in which to accept one of the petitions you have received or you will be married off to one of them at the ministers discretion." Hermione sat still for a moment, taking all of this in. Would she get a petition or would she be free to be single for a while longer? Would Harry or Ron have her? What if she got stuck with some Deatheaters son? Or worse, a Deatheater? She looked up at the headmaster, hoping that he had some loophole or solution to all of this. His returning look made her stomach flip and she wondered if she would like the offer that he was about to give her. "Miss Granger, what you must understand is that you are one of Harry Potters friends and as such we fear what kind of people will be petitioning for you, we also want to ensure your safety after your –ah– wedding and so we want to ummm, how do I say this. Miss Granger, I would like you, for your own safety and so that we can ensure the safety of your future husband," Professor Snape scoffed at this, startling Hermione as she had forgotten about his presences, "I would ask you to consult me in this matter and accept the petition that I ask you to. I have someone in mind who has, in his own way, already agreed to petition for you and I know that not only will he treat you well but you will be safe with him." Something in Professor Snapes' mind clicked, those words sounded a little too familiar to him, and then he remembered. A week ago, when he had first been told about the marriage law by Albus, he had had been asked by the headmaster to petition for someone to ensure that she was safe, no name was given but the headmaster had stressed that he must treat the woman well. Woman, he thought, she is little more than a child.

"No." the word left his mouth before he had realised it. Both the headmaster and Hermione turned to look at him. "No Albus, you will not trick me into this. You said she was a woman, she is little more than a child." He voiced his earlier thoughts. "Not only that but she is my student, you can not be serious about this."

"Sorry Severus but I am." The twinkle had left Albus' eye, Hermione was taken back at how powerful he seemed suddenly. Professor Snapes words, however, were not totally lost to Hermione.

"You want me to marry Professor Snape?" she asked the headmaster.

"I truly believe it is the best solution to this issue."

"No Albus I will not marry this child, I have had-"

"Severus listen to me for a moment please-"

"-Enough of your meddling in this past week to last me a lifetime-"

"-You know what Voldemont will force you into marrying someone-"

"-and I will not tolerate you forcing me-"

"-and this way you can simply say that to still appear loyal to me-"

"-to marry not only a child but one of my students-"

"-and imply that Miss Granger will also be of use to-"

During this argument Hermione had sat quietly, letting it all sink in and now she had had enough. She stood and calmly walked around behind the two yelling professors, took the door that lead to the staircase by the handle, opened it as though she wished to exit and then, with all her strength, sent it back into its frame without walking through. The action had the desired reaction and the other two occupants of the room jumped at the loud noise, ceased their yelling and looked at the girl that was standing by the door with her arms crossed across her chest. In a voice far calmer than her composer she stated that once the two of them had finished deciding her future they were quite welcome to contact her though she could not give them her exact location as she was planing on simply following her feet. With that she reopened the door and using it for its original purpose, she left the room.

Both men looked ashamed. In their arguing they had all but forgotten the presence on the young lady and the effect this news would be having on her.

"I will go and find her." Severus commented.

"Are you sure that is wise?"

"I am about to marry the woman Albus, instead of having an argument with you I should have been discussing things with my future wife. I will return with her once we have worked things out."

"Thank you Severus." The potions master did not reply. He simply nodded his head in a small bow and left in search of his bride-to-be.

He found her only a short time later in the library. It was the first place he thought to check and he was silently pleased with himself for knowing her well enough to deduce the most likely place for her to be. She was sitting with her back to him at one of the study tables. He moved with the silence of one who had been a spy for 20 years and slid onto the pew beside her. She did not even notice his presence until he placed his hand on her shoulder. She jumped slightly under his touch and he pulled away as though he had been burnt.

"Miss Granger I believe we have a small matter to discuss."

"That's the understatement of the year." She bit back sarcastically. It was then that he realised she was crying.

"Miss Granger I believe that I am the most qualified at the moment to say that I understand what you are going through. But, as the headmaster stated, this is the best option. It is also the safest for you and although I am well aware that you have no desire to spend the rest of your life married to the 'greasy git' of the dungeon I do believe that you have a desire to live and to live longer than the end of next week." It was not said coldly, but there was no feeling in it.

"You know nothing about me." she muttered

"Pardon."

"Never mind, and besides there is nothing saying that someone decent wont petition for me, I'm sure that Harry or Ron wont leave me hanging out to dry and I mean I know I am not that attractive but maybe if I make more of and effort." She was blabbing, she was nervous.

"Miss Granger, as we have already discussed with you and as I am sure that you would have worked out for yourself anyway, Harry and Ron are not an option and you would become so infuriated with their maturity level that I believe it wouldn't be long until you found yourself a self made widow, and to marry anyone else would be putting their life in danger. You are a Gryffindor and I know that you wont willingly put anyones life in danger." She looked up at him, she knew that he was right but she could not help trying once more.

"You hate me." Fresh tears ran down her face as the truth of the situation sank in once again but her voice was strangely calm and void of emotion.

"No." Was all he said before standing and signalling her to follow, she did.

"Welcome back, are we feeling a little better now?" Professor Dumbledores' twinkle had returned to his eyes and Hermione smiled nervously up at him and nodded in affirmation. "Good good, I do not mean to rush you but if we get all of the paperwork done then you two may leave and I will ensure that the correct forms are sent one minute past midnight."

"Wait, why does this all have to happen so fast, why cant we just leave it as a back up plan in case someone petitions for me?"

"Miss Granger the paperwork must be finalised before anyone else has a chance to petition for you. This marriage must remain a secret, even from your friends, for a while and if anyone petitions for you before the paperwork is finalised then they will be informed of your choice. I do not think you want it spread around all of the school that you have married your potions master and without meaning any insult I do not think Professor Snape would want it to be common knowledge that you are his wife. He, along with all the other professors, who will have no knowledge of your marriage, will continue to call you Miss Granger."

"What about, well, um never mind." Hermione mumbled.

"What is it Miss Granger, if you have any questions it is best to get them out in the open now. A lifetime is a long time to hold your tongue." Professor Dumbledores voice was friendly but it had a hint of concern behind it.

"Well, what about um- l-living arrangements? I mean, will I be moving in with Professor Snape or do we keep our own rooms or what?" She stumbled over her words.

"Miss Granger, I do not know what you take me for but I am not some kind of pervert." Professor Snape snapped. "You will continue to live in the heads wing and I will continue to live in the dungeon."

"Oh, of course." Hermione muttered.

"We will, of course, have a passageway build between your room and Professors Snapes room that can be used in emergences and the like." Professor Dumbledore added. "it is a good thing that you are a head this year miss Granger, else we might have had a hard time explaining that to your roommates. Now, lets get this paperwork done shall we." He motioned for them to sit in front of his desk and conjured up quills for them both.

Nearly an hour later and she was married and leaving the headmasters office with her new husband.

"I will escort you back to your room Miss Granger."

"There is no need professor, I know my way."

"That may be so, Miss Granger, but it is after curfew and I would hate for you to get another detention."

"Oh, about that Sir, do I still- I mean, about my other detentions."

"Yes, Miss Granger, you will still have to serve them. It would raise far too many eyebrows if you were suddenly dismissed from your detention. However you may bring along your homework, I will not make you scrub caldrons, though it would be in your best interest if you had people believe that you were reduced to a house elf during our time together."

"Yes Professor." They had reached the statue that lead into the heads wing by this point and, unsure what to do, Hermione stood and wait for a moment in silence before looking her husband in the eye and whispering a quick goodnight.

"Goodnight Miss Granger." He whispered back as she walked through the tunnel that the statue had just revealed.

Hermione felt strangely happy as she entered the heads common room. Life was weird. She had just been forced to marry her potions master and the man that was number two on her best friends enemy list. She had no idea how she was going to tell them that she was now married to the man that had tortured them at every opportunity for the past six and a bit years. Yet it wasn't bothering her at the moment. Her good mood was spoilt when Draco Malfoy, head boy, spotted her.

"Why are you so happy?" He sneered. "Have you finally realized that not even the Weasel and Pothead combined could compete with my good looks and charm." Hermione was not in the mood for his childish insults tonight.

"That was pathetic, even for you Malfoy." She laughed gently and made her way to the stairs that lead down to her room before he had a chance to reply.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

The next morning did not bode well for Hermione. From the moment she walked into the Great hall people were stealing fugitive glances her way and whispering as she past. They couldn't know about her and Professor Snape, could they? She stole a glance up at the head table to see if he was there. His seat was still empty.

"Miss Granger." She jumped, she had not even realised that anyone was behind her. She looked over her shoulder and paled when she was Professor Snape looming over her. This was not going to be a good day. "I suggest that you continue to walk or be prepared to be pushed out of the way." She hadn't even realized she had stopped. Quickly she walked the rest of the way to the Gryffindor table and sat in between Harry and Ron.

"Evil git, you ok 'Mione." Ron mumbled through a mouth full of sausage.

"Don't call him that Ron," Hermione said absentmindedly and without any real conviction. "Why is everyone staring at me?"

"So you haven't heard then?" Harry sounded worried and she snapped out of her self-hypnosis and looked at him.

"Heard what."

"Here," Harry handed her a copy of _The Daily Prophet._ "You aren't going to like this." In big bold letters the words 'MARRIAGE LAW, WILL IT MAKE OR BREAK THE WIZARDING WORLD.' A quick scan of the article showed that this was not the official decree but a trumped up 'tear jerker' from the pen of Rita Skeeta. She did learn, however, that the official decree was on page 87. Hermione turned to the page and scanned for it. it took her several scans before she finally discovered it written in between the advertisements.

"Gee they don't make it obvious or anything do they?" Hermione bit as she read the small print of the article.

"Don't worry 'Mione, I will petition for you. Nothing bad is gonna happen." Ron spoke through a mouthful of food in a clear voice that could have only been achieved through years of practice.

"No," she answered quickly. She had not thought of this, despite her comment to Snape last night she did not think that Ron or Harry would be so willing to petition for her until there was a need. "Leave it for now Ron," she added upon seeing his confused face. "If you petition for me then I will only have a week, wait and see if anyone else petitions for me, if no one does then I wont have to worry about it." She smiled tentatively at her two best friends. She felt that she looked suitably frazzled by the news because of her brief panic because of Ron and both Ron and Harry gave her sympathetic looks before returning to their morning meal. It wasn't long until she was waving them farewell from the main entrance hall as they made their way to Hogsmeade while looking suitably despondent for someone who would be spending all of their Saturday and Sunday locked in the dungeon doing detention with Professor Snape.

After the large group of students disappeared down the hill, generally in high spirits despite the news in the morning paper as it would not be affecting most of them, Hermione turned her attention back to the walls inside Hogwarts castle. Her detention was not due to start for another hour and so Hermione took her homework and sat in the library to do some important research. It wasn't until the impatient clearing of a throat sounded behind her that Hermione looked up from her work. She did not need to turn around to discover the identity of the man behind her so instead she used this moment to glance at one of the many clocks that littered the library. The dry comment about her still having a good twenty minutes left before her detention died in her throat and she paled noticeably as she discovered that she had been sitting in the library from close to two hours. She spun around in fear and looked up at her forboarding husband.

"Professor I am so sorry, time must have got away from me I was so sure that barely more that half an hour had passed since everyone had left for Hogsmeade and I was so caught up in-"

"Miss Granger you are rambling, 10 points from Gryffindor, now if you would please remove yourself to the potions classroom as you were meant to nearly an hour ago, you may make up the extra hour after you appointed detention time. Hermione flushed and quickly busied herself with the parchment that was spread across the table that she had been working on. That was now twice in as many days that she had been late to her detention with Professor Snape. She was surprised to have so far only received an extra hours detention and a deduction of 10 points for her behavior, could it be that Professor Snape was allowing her some compensation due to recent events. she doubted that it would be anything as simple or shallow as wanting to please or favor his new wife, more that he understood that at this time she had a few stressful thoughts on her mind but that it would not be long until he would expect her to be able resume her usual composer and therefore her usual punishment for misbehavior, or in the case of her potions professor, punishment for not being a Slitherine and being closely associated with 'the boy who lived'.

She reached the dungeon without even realizing she had left the library and upon reaching the door into her potions classroom she paused, wondering if she should enter now or wait until Professor Snape appeared to invite her in.

"You have already wasted far too much of my time today Miss Granger, please try not to waste any more I do have other thing to do besides babysit you." His tone was harsh and cold and as Hermione had not senses his presence behind her she jumped in surprise to both his presence and his tone.

"S-sorry S-sir." She stuttered before quickly turning the handle and entering the room. Choosing a desk that was far enough away from Snapes desk as to not be intimidated by him by no so far as to make him think that she was intimidated, Hermione sat with her books and homework and returned to the task that she had been doing in the library, and that was to fit 6 feet and 9 inches of charms essay into 2 and a half feet of parchment.

Four hours and three essays later Hermione's thoughts were interrupted by a sudden and loud knock on the door.

"Enter." Came the almost mechanical reply from the man sitting at the front of the classroom whose presence she had all but forgotten about. She seemed to be doing that a lot lately with her potions master. It was only a fraction later that his head shot up from the paper he was marking with a look that one could almost call fear in his eyes. The door opened and Professor Dumbledore entered baring a large tray balanced delicately on one hand. Hermione immediately jumped up to help him only to be frightened back into her seat by the sheer force and anger behind Professor Snapes words.

"Sit back down Miss Granger, you were not dismissed from your seat."

"Serverus there is no reason to take your anger out on Miss Granger, just because you had a momentary lapse in memory and forgot that, to anyone else, the sight of Miss Granger happily doing homework instead of scrubbing cauldrons in one of your detentions would be an odd sight. It is only me and therefore no need to scold her to cover your slip." Professor Snape glowered at the headmaster, a look which would have shaken even Voldermont in his boots. Professor Dumbledore, however, simply laughed it off and placed the tray on the table in front of Hermione, revealing the contents to be a cold lunch. "I noticed that neither of you were present at lunch," at that both Hermione and Professor Snape glanced at the clock at the front of the classroom. "I believe that reaction just cost Minnie a sickle. She was convinced that you had poor Miss Granger locked up in here cleaning cauldrons and refusing her the simple pleasures of food until after her time was served. I, however, was more under the impression that both of you had become so consumed in your work that the time had passed without your knowledge or consent. Of course I did have the added bonus of knowing Miss Grangers true vocation at this time. As punishment for your harsh words to Miss Granger and the points that I noticed missing from Gryffindor an hour after this detention started Serverus, Miss Granger shall have first pick from the platter." Despite Professor Snapes obvious annoyance towards the headmaster at this moment he made no objections and was thoroughly surprised when Hermione took this task upon herself.

"Oh headmaster I am so sorry about that but I am afraid I earned that point deduction, and much more really, for it was at that time Professor Snape came across me in the library and as you just stated it was an hour into my detention. Thank you for the kind offer though, but I am not actually that hungry anyway." Professor Snape looked at her with some interest at that statement, she had just stood up for him, this was indeed a new experience for him, no one other than Albus had stood up for him for close to two decades.

"Miss Granger, please help yourself," he found the words leaving his mouth before he had time to process them. "I was observing you at breakfast and you had barely more that two bites of toast and some tea."

"You were watching me?"

"I am a spy Miss Granger, it is in my nature to notice things." It was a lame excuse but it was the only one that came to mind that the moment. He had not yet let the issue rise from the back of his mind and so had not pondered the issue enough to come to a better conclusion.

"Oh, well, um. Really though, I am not hungry. thank you for the kind gesture though Professor Dumbledore."

"My pleasure Miss Granger." He smiled at her before picking up the tray and carrying it to Professor Snapes desk. "Now you I will not take a 'no' from, you will eat something young man." Professor Snape simply glared at the smiling old man and picked out a sandwich triangle. "I will leave you to your work then." And with that he was gone in a twirl of purple and orange robes.

"That man is positively mad and I often find that the only thing I can compare his mental state to is his attire." Professor Snape muttered to his sandwich as he took a bite and placed the rest back on the tray. Hermione tried to stifle a giggle in her robe sleave with little success. Professor Snape looked up sharply at the odd noise and found some pride in the knowledge that he had caused the smile that lit her eyes. As soon as she caught a look at his scowling face, however, the laughter left her eyes and the air and she returned her attention to the four remaining essays that she had yet to finish.

It wasn't until the dinner bell rang that they were both disturbed from their thoughts once more. The noise echoed through the corridor and Hermione was surprised to think that they had missed the lunch bell. As though sensing her thoughts Snape informed her that they turned all but the main bell off when the castle was devoid of dunderheads. Once again Hermione was forced to hide her amusement at his description of the other students in the school and used a mild tease as her shelter in which to hide behind.

"Does that mean you do not consider me a dunderhead, Professor?"

"Sorry, you are most correct, it was devoid of _most _of the dunderheads." Hermione was sure that she should have taken offense to this statement but such a productive day had left her in a surprisingly good mood.

"You know Professor I think I have found a great advantage to weekend detentions with you, I was not once disturbed by some hapless Gryffingor or Hufflepuff wanting help with some assignment or essay. It was quite refreshing."

"Well do not get used to it, after tomorrow you can not expect the same sort of treatment. Any detentions, weekend or otherwise, spent with me will consist of cauldron scrubbing and ingredient sorting. Which, I might remind you, is precisely what everyone believes you have spent the day doing so I suggest you act a little more subdued." She obeyed his request and even went as far as to step in behind him as they came into view of the great hall.

"Hermione." A voice called to her as she stepped into the Great Hall. She turned around and came face to face with a slightly out of breath Ron. "Hermione where have you been, me and Harry have been searching for you ever since we got back. What right did that greasy git have to keep you in all day?"

"Don't call him that Ron and its Harry and I." Ron took no notice of her half hearted attempt to correct his grammar but he did mutter a quick 'well he is one' under his breath before taking his seat and loading his plate with food. "Where is Harry?" Hermione briefly searched the hall before turning her attention back to Ron.

"He just had to drop some stuff off upstairs." Ron replied, "Aren't you gonna eat anything?" Hermione picked up a bean and began chewing on it absentmindedly.

"Nah, I am not really hungry, I had a pretty big lunch." She sighed. "And besides, I have a ton of homework to catch up on now so I am just going to go to the library. See ya."

"Bye." Ron waved as she picked up her bag and began heading towards the library.


	3. Chapter 3

Warning: this chapter contains abuse, it is not very graphical but it is still there. Also I am considering putting the rating up not only because of this chapter but for later chapters. Please let me know your thoughts and enjoy!!!!

Chapter 3

"Miss Granger." Once again Hermione jumped in her seat. She hated how easily Professor Snape could sneak up on her.

"Yes Professor?" She replied without turning around.

"You have become a liar, and with the ease that you did it I would be lead to the conclusion that this was not your first time."

"Excuse me." Hermione turned around and glared at him. "How dare you come in here and make such an accusation to me!"

"You cannot deny it, the moment was far to clear for me to have misread the situation and although I understand the necessity for the second part of the lie, regarding your afternoon and how it was spent, I do not understand why you informed Mister Wesley that you had ingested a large lunch when I quite clearly remember you refusing all offers of food. Is this some new fad that I have not heard of, starve yourself until you are weak and hope that – what – someone will comment that you have lost weight, or so you can fit new dress you bought? Miss Granger, whatever the reason for this behaviour it is ridiculous and I insist that you stop it immediately."

"Why Professor, I didn't know you cared," she bit back sarcastically. "Were you spying on me again? Look you know nothing about me ok so why can't you just leave me alone!" Her voice had risen to a shout and before Madam Price had the chance to tell her off and before Professor Snape had the chance to reply she picked up her bag and work off the table and began running back to the head common room.

"I will not cry, I will not cry, I will not cry." She kept chanting to herself as she paced around her room. The king size bed, although an impressive size, took up very little of the large room and as Hermione was a neat person the room seemed very large as the floor was not scattered with clothes and everything was in its place.

"Why would you cry my Herm-o-niny?" At the sound of the far too familiar voice Hermione froze, composed herself in an instant and turned to face Victor.

"Because I missed you so much." She plastered what she hoped looked like a real smile on her face and run into her boyfriends arms.

"It has been too long, hasn't it?" He said in a heavily accented voice.

"What a surprise to see you? Any reason in particular or did you just want to surprise me?" She was sure her cheer sounded fake, sure that he would see through it. But he didn't, he never did. A moment of fear crossed her eyes at the realization that he was probably here about the law. She had hoped to have more time in which to come up with a plan. Hoped that something would come along and fix everything up, but it hadn't.

"I have come to tell you that you are coming home with me, there is no need to finish your studies, you vont have much time for a career anyway."

"Oh, but Victor you know how I love my studies, please let me stay for my last year." She begged. "And I am head girl this year and everything, it is such an exciting opportunity for me, please Victor I want to stay here."

"I do not care what you want," his voice was cold, "why do you always have to question me? Why cant you just do as I ask? You may have one month more to say goodbye to your friends and then I will be back, do you understand!"

"Yes Victor," she squeaked.

"Good, now to teach you a lesson." And with no more than that said he backhanded her across the face. She knew he was only just warming up.

The next morning the first thing Hermione noticed was the blood on the floor from her blood nose. She quickly grabbed her wand and cleaned as much of it up as she could. She then went into the head bathroom to inspect the damage. Dark bruises covered her body and small scratches littered her back. Her nose was sore but there were no notable signs. As always there would be no evidence of anything as soon as she put her school clothes on and nothing would scar. After a quick shower she dressed and returned to her room so that Draco Malfoy, head boy, could use it, though he would not be up for at least another hour. She sat on her bed and held back the tears that threatened to fall. His parting words still echoes in her mind - 'your still too fat' – almost stopped her from going down to breakfast but she knew that it would only cause questions to come from Harry and Ron. They would not notice if she didn't eat, as long as she was there.

She reached the Great Hall without encountering a single being and sat quietly down at the table. It was a Sunday and therefore it would be a good half hour before the hall would begin to fill. She sat with her book in her hand and an untouched piece of toast on her plate for 45 minutes before Ron and Harry showed up.

"You're here early." Harry commented.

"So are you, for a Sunday." She replied.

"Quidditch practice." Ron mumbled, his eyes still practically closed and his mouth already full of food. "You wanna come watch.

"Cant, detention." She reminded the absently.

"That's right, Greasy git."

"Ron," she scolded with no real conviction and then they fell silence. It wasn't until the post arrived that Hermione was disturbed from her reading once again.

"What the bloody hell?" Rod shouted. "Why didn't you tell us 'Mione? And more to the point who is he?" The whole hall was filled with students by now but the noise suddenly dimmed at Ron's outburst. Harry, having snatched the letter from Rons' grasp followed it with an outburst of his own.

"What does it mean by this candidate is no longer available?" He, too, shouted.

"It means someone has already petitioned for her, and she said yes, that's what." Ron jumped up from her seat and glared at Hermione. "Well, who is it?"

"Ron what are you talking about?" Hermione feared the answer but she did not want to jump to any conclusions. That could end in a far bigger disaster.

"I petitioned for you yesterday, I know you said you didn't want me to Hermione but I didn't want to take the risk, or miss the opportunity, seems like I already did?" Great, she thought, well now the whole school knows.

"Is there a problem here?" The quiet voice of Professor Snape echoed around the hall and would normally have been enough to scare anyone into calming down, but not this time.

"Nothing that concerns you, you greasy git. This is between Hermione and me."

"Ron!" Hermione yelled, horrified that Ron would speak to anyone that way.

"50 points from Gryffindor and detention with Mister Filch every night this week starting tonight. Miss Granger, your detention starts in an hour, do not be late." Ron made a noise as if he was going to protest and Hermione quickly gather her things and stood.

"I think I would prefer to accompany you now Sir, if that is okay?" Professor Snape looked mildly surprised by this request but made no motion to stop her as she stood and followed him out of the hall. The last thing either of them heard before the door closed behind them was Professor Dumbldore reminding everyone to continue eating so that they could get on with their day.

"That was an odd and foolish thing to do Miss Granger." He snapped at her after entering the potions classroom. I think many will find it odd that you would prefer my company over that of your friends."

"I doubt it; you would be surprised with the company I have kept after having an argument with them. Everyone will just see it as me trying to avoid answering the question, which is pretty much what I am doing, and now, thanks to you, I have a week to come up with a suitable answer, Harry will be a lot more understanding than Ron on the topic and Ron will be spending his evening in detention."

"Why Miss Granger, anyone would think that you were pleased that Mister Wesley received his detention."

"I am," she stated matter-of-factly. "He had no right to petition me, especially after I had told him specifically not to. And then blowing up like that in front of everyone. I mean the nerve of him. Telling me that it was because he cared. Seriously, the nerve."

"Why don't you tell them the truth?" Hermiones head shot up at that. "Well not in so many words, obviously. Tell them that Dumbledore arranged something and that it is all sorted but that you didn't want it spread around because he can't do it for everyone. Put the guilt back on them. It may stop them snooping around in the future." Hermione paused in her pacing for the first time since she had entered the room.

"That's brilliant! That will actually work!" She cried and collapsed into her chair and smiled. Her joy was short lived as the door to the potions classroom was thrown open. Despite her doubts that Ron would follow her into the lair of their potions master she still expected it to be him as she turned around. Instead she came face to face with a very furious looking Victor Krum. She did not have time to compose herself and instead let out a small squeak of fear as he grabbed her by the back of her robe and pulled her into a standing position. He had never come twice in a row before and she didn't know if she could handle any more at the moment. But surely he would not do anything in front of a Professor. She glanced quickly towards the front desk only to discover that she was alone with Victor, where had he gone?

"Vhy did you not tell me about the marriage law?"

"I am sorry, I didn't think it was important." He threw her across the room and she smacked her shoulder into a desk, a deep click sounded and she knew it had dislocated.

"Not important, how could it not be important? What if someone had petitioned for you and you could not reach me? What if you had been forced to marry someone else? I will send my petition off as soon as I have finished with you and you will accept it." Hermione was suddenly very glad that she did not have to think of an answer to these as Professor Snape had just provided her with an answer.

"It doesn't matter because the headmaster sorted it out for me; anyone who petitions for me just gets a note saying that I am no longer a candidate. So you don't have to worry about it." She assured him.

"You still should have told me." he spoke in such a cold voice that Hermione felt a shiver run through her. He was standing over her again now and he raised his wand. Hermione stiffened and closed her eyes as she waited for the curse to hit her. It never came and she opened her eyes to see Victor standing in exactly the same position but all the blood had left his face and there was a look of pure horror on his face.

"Not only have you interrupted my detention with Miss Granger, Mister Krum, but you have also raised not only your hand but your wand at a lady. I would advise you to break your wand over your knee and go and live as a muggle, Mister Krum, because if I ever see you again I can assure you that on that day I will be able to count your remaining breaths on one hand, now get out of my classroom before I decide on a punishment that would end your life far sooner than that day." He ran. Hermione had never seen anyone run so fast. And she was left looking at her husband whose face was contort with rage. She would have recoiled if she had thought that the anger was directed at her but she knew it wasn't. As soon as his eyes met hers his face softened into its usual scowl.

"How long has your boyfriend been betting you up?" she didn't answer. "Come on, we need to get you to Madam Pomfry to look at your arm." He went to help her up but her whimper stopped him. "I am not going to hurt you Miss Granger."

"Please don't take me to Madam Pomfry, cant you just fix it? I am sure that you are capable."

"That I am, Miss Granger but it does not change the fact that she is the mediwitch at the school and ever since the Lockheart incident Dumbledore has been rather strict on such matters and only in an emergency or dire circumstances is a teacher allowed to perform mediwitch duties on a student."

"Cant you consider this to be a dire circumstance." She pleaded.

"No Miss Granger, I cannot. Now let me help you up."

In the end Professor Snape had to carry Hermione up to the hospital wing as she had also jarred her leg. Despite both of their fears about being discovered they met no one but Professor McGonagall who, after seeing her favorite student injured, had told them that she would go and get the headmaster. Hermione had been sitting in one of the many beds feeling a lot better after having ingested about a dozen potions when Harry, Ron and Professors Dumbledore and McGonagall burst through the door. The sleeping potion bottle had been resting on her lips all that she needed to do was tip the bottle back and she would be in the blissful world of the unconscious. She made the mistake of pausing.

"What the bloody hell did you do to her you greasy bast-" Ron tripped on his own feet, he caught himself before he landed flat on the floor but it was enough to interrupt his accusation.

"Mister Wesley, you already have one week's detention and it would be my pleasure to double it for you."

"Now Severus, the boy is upset, give him a moment to calm down."

"Do not tell me what to do Albus, there is no excuse for that kind of behavior."

"Don't talk to the headmaster that way." Professor McGonagall put in.

"You still haven't answered my question Snape. What did you do to Hermione?"

"Its ok Minnie, I can handle this." While all this was going on no one noticed Harry slip between the fighting figures and sit himself down beside Hermione.

"How ya feeling?" He asked gently.

"Pretty alright, I am just glad I had that headache potion before they arrived." She laughed but Harry did not miss the sadness that was in her eyes.

"You want to tell me what happened?"

"Oh Harry," Hermione sniffled, refusing to cry now after she had kept it all in for so long. "You wouldn't understand, it was all my fault, if only I had just listened to him, I should have gone with him during the holidays like he wanted me to and then none of this would have happened." Harry looked confused by her statement but before he could ask her what she meant another voice entered the conversation.

"Miss Granger, don't you dare blame yourself for this. He was an abusive boyfriend and would have been no matter what your actions."

"Boyfriend!" Harry, Ron and Professor Dumbledore all shouted at once.

"I think now is a good time to take my sleeping potion." Hermione muttered as all eyes turned towards her. "I am starting to feel a little sick." She reached for the potion that she had set down on the bed side table but Harry grabbed her hand before she reached it.

"I think you need to tell us a few things. I understand if you want to wait until you are feeling better but I do want a promise that you will tell the truth. I know how your mind works Hermione, you will use this time to come up with some story or excuse. So I want a promise." She glanced at the headmaster and then at Snape before doubling over and empting the contents of her stomach on the floor at Harrys feet. Harry jumped back to avoid the splash. Professor Snapes reaction was the opposite, leaping forward and onto the other side of the bed he pulled Hermione's hair out of her face and then settled her back into bed while calling for Madam Pomfry.

"What did you give her?" He demanded as soon as the Mediwitch appeared.

"Nothing that she should have reacted with. The bone resetting potion, a couple of pain relievers, the bruise reducing potion and the sleeping potion which she hasn't taken yet."

"Damn it." Professor Snape turned his attention back to Hermione. "When was the last time you ate, and I mean a decent meal, not the two bites of toast that you had yesterday morning." Hermione paused and refused to look her husband in the eye. After a moment of silence Ron piped up.

"She said that she had a big lunch yesterday."

"A 'big lunch' normally consists of more that the end of a quill." Snape replied without turning around.

"But-" he was cut off by Professor Dumbledore's hand resting on his shoulder, he looked around confused and then returned his gaze on Hermione.

"I don't know." Hermione mumbled so that no one could hear her. Snape did not respond to the inaudible mumble but instead placed to fingers under her chin and lifted her head. She finally met his eyes. The tears that she had held onto for so long began to well up and she tried her hardest to fight the off. "I can't remember." She whispered so that only Professor Snape and Harry could hear. Harry gasped but Snape just sighed.

"And I suppose that you are not hungry at the moment." She shook her head. "Madam Pomfry," he stood and turned his attention towards the mediwitch. Re-administer the resetting potion but leave the others until after she has woken up and eaten. She may still take the sleeping potion and I recommend that she does else she will have no energy left when she wakes up. I suggest that everyone leaves now and gives her some time; she has had a hard day. If you will all excuse me I have someone I must speak to." He turned to leave but was stopped by a gentle cough at his elbow. He turned to face his child bride.

"Thank you, for everything." She whispered. He nodded before sweeping out of the room. As soon as he left Ron found his voice and had already asked half a dozen questions at once when Madam Pomfry shooed them all out, including the headmaster.


	4. Chapter 4

A/N: Aaaaaarrrrrrggggggghhhhhh, I am soooooooo sorry everyone, no I have not abandoned this story, I have just been incredibly busy. But not I am out of work so I have more time. I am hoping to have the next two or three chapters up this week and then at least one or two more be for I go away and wont be back until after Easter!!!!!!

Anywho, read, enjoy, and please review so I know what you are all thinking!!!!!

Chapter 4

It was close to midnight when Hermione woke up. She was exhausted and thirsty. She gently lifted her head and spied a glass of water sitting on the bed side table. She reached for it but stopped when someone from the other side of her side of her spoke.

"Oh, here, let me get that for you." She jumped slightly but let her arm fall back to the bed and turned her head just as a dark form leaned over her, picked up the glass and handed it to her. "Um, are you ok to drink it by yourself? Professor Snape said that you would be pretty drained." She looked up into the concerned eyes of Draco Malfoy. That surprised her, although they had agreed to be civil towards each other at the beginning of the year because they were both heads and even though they had become almost acquaintances in the month that they had been at school (in the privacy on their own common room) especially since Draco had joined the light side, concern was not something that often came from a Malfoy.

"Malfoy?" She questioned her own eyesight. "What are you doing here?"

"Don't know really. Snape just told me to come down here and watch you. He made some comment about us having something in common that you might want to discuss, something that you don't want to discuss with pothead and weasel coz they wouldn't understand or something. So here I am."

"Uh, thanks, but you don't have to sit here and watch me. I will be fine by my self."

"Yeah, he told me not to listen to you when you said that too. Made me swear not to leave you alone for an instant. And besides, I thought I might get some good dirt on you in your half drugged state." He joked.

"Nope, sorry, they have all worn off, well the ones I kept down anyway."

"Yeah, he told me about that too. So why have you been starving yourself. It's not like you need to."

"Was that a compliment Malfoy, alright, that's it. What is my mothers' middle name?"

"Narcissa, same as my mothers first name, why?"

"Just wanted to check that it was really you." She laughed.

"But seriously, why where you-"

"Malfoy please, I don't want to talk about it okay?"

"No it's not ok Granger. Snape said you hadn't eaten in days. Granger you know you can talk to me. You can trust me Granger." The continued use of her maiden name was getting to her. It wasn't her name anymore.

"Ok I will talk to you, just promise me something," he looked at her expectantly. "Never call me Granger again."

"Ooooookaaaay, not what I was expecting, but then I guess the roomers are true, you are married. But what should I call you now. I am guessing from the Weasels outburst at breakfast that it's not him, Potters was a little less convincing, could it be that you are the new Mrs. Potter, but no, you two are more like brother and sister, then perhaps it is one of the older Weasels, but which one, there are so many to choose from?" Hermione was laughing light-heartedly at his teasing jibes but what he said next sent fear through her heart. "Or perhaps it is an old flame reignited. What was that idiot from the yull balls name? Krum, am I sitting in this room with the new Mrs. Krum." Upon noticing Hermione had stilled he looked up. "Please don't tell me you married that oaf."

"No," she weakly shook her head. "No I'm not married to him. But…" after a long paused Draco reached out and placed a hand on her shoulder. She flinched and he quickly withdrew his hand. "He is the reason I am here." She mumbled quietly.

"I don't understand. Doesn't he live in Bulgaria or something?"

"We are- were going out up until this morning, Draco you have to promise me not to tell a soul about this."

"Of course not Hermione." The use of first names told him just how serious this was. "Was he- did he- hurt you?" she nodded. "Why that son of a-"

"No Draco, it was my fault. I should have been more supportive of his wishes, and I didn't even tell him about the marriage law, he had to find out on his own and that was why he was so angry this morning and last night was my fault too coz he wanted me to go home with him and drop out of school and I didn't want to and I should have listened to him and then none of this would have happened."

"Now I understand why Snape sent me here." Hermione looked up at his seemingly random comment. "Hermione, when I was a kid my dad used to beat me and my mum." Hermione gasped in shock. "I used to always think it was my fault. I would do something wrong so he would beat me, mum would interfere so he would beat her. It's not a nice thought knowing that you caused your mum to be beaten. What was worst was he always beat her, even back in their school days but she would laugh and say that she was clumsy when people asked about the bruises, she make up stories to explain cuts, it only got worse after they got married. It is not a happy thought, knowing that you are the result of a brutal rape. The only good that came from it was that he left my mother alone for the last couple of moths of pregnancy."

"Oh Draco, I am so sorry. But your father was a sadistic man, you never deserved anything like that." Hermione gently placed her hand on his. He turned his hand over so that he was holding hers.

"And I am here to show you that this was not your fault either," she made to protest but he stopped her, "Uh tell me what happened and why you think it was your fault and then I will prove just how wrong the smartest witch in Hogwarts is."

So she did, she told him of the time last year when he had beat her up for hugging Ron and Harry after the holidays, she told him of last night, she briefly ghosted across several others and each one he proved to her why it was not her fault.

"And that's it," she murmured an hour and a half later.

"No its not." She looked at him with a puzzled expression. "When was the first time?" She stiffened. He had slowly been breaking through all of her defences and she knew that if she told him about the first time she would have no defence left. She had spent far too long thinking about it herself to be fooled, she knew that that time it was not her fault.

"At the tri-wizard cup, he said I should have noticed that he was under the imperio curse and that he should have won." She said her tone flat and void of emotion as she looked back through the last two and a bit years of her life. It had not been her fault. She could see that now. She should have gone to the headmaster, or at least told Ron and Harry. She couldn't even dump him. "I am such an idiot." She mumbled.

"And here I am without witnesses." Draco joked.

"But I am, aren't I?"

"No, just misguided. Now I am guessing that 'the two' don't know about any of this?" She shook her head. "It's not over yet; I think you should tell them, they will support you that way."

"Cant you tell them?" She whinged jokingly.

"What, and end up in here beside you, I don't think so. Now get some more rest, ok?" She nodded and lay back down. It felt good having told someone and she silently thanked her husband for his thoughtful gesture.

She woke up late on Monday morning to the sound of Ron and Harry arguing. She watched as their whispered argument grew louder and louder until she could no longer take it.

"I am right here you two, if you really want to know the answers why not as me. I can't guaranty that I can or will answer them all but it will be more than you can get from each other since neither of you know what is going on." Harry had the decency to look ashamed but Ron pounced on her with questions.

"Alright 'Mione, what is going on? Why was Snape saying you have a boyfriend, why did you lie to us about eating, and who did this to you? And don't think I have forgotten about the whole marriage law thing either!"

"Slow down Ron, let me get a word in. I cant answer all your questions, but I will try to answer them as best as I can." Ron looked none to pleased about this, but Harry nodded in understanding, he didn't like to divulge all of the gruesome details of his life with the Dursleys with everyone. Before either of them could say anything, however, she continued. "Professor Snape said I had a boyfriend because I did have a boyfriend. You remember Victor Krum, we have been going out ever since the Yull Ball and he has been… h-hurting me ever since the end of the tournament." She tried to say it with as little emotion as possible but her voice caught at the critical moment and she had to look away from the horrified boys in front of her. She would not let either of them interrupt and quickly continued. "The eating had something to do with Victor as well and he was the one who did this and as for the petition," She continued on quickly so that neither of the boys could question her further. "You had no right to do that, and then you go and blow up in front of everyone. Professor Dumbledore managed to work something out for me so that I was safe but we had to keep it a secrete because he can't do it for everyone and you guys may have ruined it now by blowing up like that in front of the whole school, I still don't know how I am going to explain it." She finished with a sigh. Both boys were looking extremely guilty and Hermione hoped that this meant they would think before acting, at least when it came to publicly humiliating her.

"Miss Granger." The cold voice of Professor Snape cut through the moment's awkwardness, "It is good to see you are awake, this mornings potions class was lacking without you. However it did not so much miss the company of two other students who failed to appear though out the class." At this he cast a glance at both Harry and Ron.

"You two skipped class." Hermione jumped at them immediately.

"'Mione, we had to be here for you." Ron whined in their defence.

"Yeah, and Ron got permission for us to be here too." Ron turned bright red and looked down quickly as all the other occupants of the room turned to look at him.

"I was not informed of any changes to the class today." Professor Snape glared at the youngest male Wesley as his ears began to turn almost purple.

"That's because he didn't get permission, did you Ron?" Hermione snapped. His head shook from side to side, confirming Hermione's suspicions. "RON-"

"Congratulations Mr. Wesley, you just earned yourself another weeks' detention with Mr. Filtch and 50 points from Griffondor. Mr. Potter as you were unaware of the situation you will only receive two days detention with Mr. Filch. Miss Granger you may take a makeup class with me tonight at 8pm. Don't be late." The 'this time' remained unsaid but Hermione knew it was sitting on the tip of his tongue. Before any retorts or protests could be made the Professor had disappeared through the door and returned to the rest of Hogwarts.

"Greasy Git." Ron spat as he made a rude hand gesture towards the door.

"Ron," Hermione began.

"It's ok, 'Mione. You get some rest, I've got this one." Harry interrupted as he cracked the knuckles on one hand with the other. "You have some explaining to do Ron." And with that he took hold of Ron's collar and began dragging him towards the door. Hermione was asleep again in minutes.

It was dinner time when Hermione woke, she knew this because Madam Pomfry was bringing her a tray laden with food.

"Ah, good. You are awake. Eat up, but eat slowly, your body will react badly if you eat too much after not eating for such a long time. Will you be ok if I leave you for a bit? I won't be long, I just have to pop up to the great hall and let Albus know that you are awake." Hermione nodded and Madam Pomfry dash from the room as fast as her legs could carry her. Hermione picked up a sandwich and began to nibble at it.

"I do hope you plan to eat more than that Miss Granger." The voice startled her as she thought she had been alone. She looked up into the piercing eyes of Severus Snape and was surprised to see no anger or distain in them. She took another, larger bite of the sandwich and Professor Snape responded to her silence with a tight lipped sneer. It was close to half an hour later when Professor Snape finally spoke up and by this stage Hermione had successfully kept down three sandwich triangles and a pumpkin pasty.

"If you are done, Miss Granger, you may accompany me down to the dungeons for your make-up class."

"Yes, I am, thank you Profes-"

"You are not taking her anywhere until I deem her well enough to leave my care." The small but angry voice of Madam Pomfry sounded from behind them. She walked over to them and gave Professor Snape a sharp glance before turning to Hermione. "How are you feeling dear?" She smiled down at her.

"Much better Madam Pomfry, I feel fine."

"Yes, well. Let's take a quick look at you than shall we." She waved her wand at Hermione and began inspecting this and that. Ten minutes later Hermione had been dismissed from the hospital wing and was following Professor Snape down to the dungeons.

It was late by the time she made it back to the heads common room, after finishing her class with Professor Snape she then quickly headed off to the teachers of the other classes she had had that day to collect her homework and find out what she had missed. None of them required a make-up class and the general concessus was that she could catch up next class. She collapsed on the couch and lay there for a good hour before the warm and comfort of her bed called to her and she dragged her overtired body up the stairs and into her room.


	5. Chapter 5

A/N: Hey all, hope you are all enjoying it so far!!!!! See, aren't I a good little girl, I posted another chapter, please let me know what you all think!!!!

Chapter 5

Just after midnight she managed to pull herself from the nightmare that had left her in a cold sweat. Tears streamed down her face and her whole body shook. She was a wreak and she knew that she would not get back to sleep tonight. She sat up and looked around her as she suddenly had the feeling of being watched but she could see no one and so she stood and walked over to her desk to start on her homework.

The next day she had dark circles under her eyes and she regretted not trying to go back to sleep but she had finished most of her homework and was pleased with that. She cast a quick glamour charm on herself, one that she had learnt a long time ago to keep her all night studies a secret from Ron and Harry, and left for breakfast.

It felt good to be able to eat again although habit had made her hesitate every time she reached for some of the food that was spread out before her and thee entire school seemed to be watching her. She noticed Harry keeping a close eye on her, though Ron was completely ignoring them both, and she was sure that Professor Snape had been casting her glances all morning, she just hoped that he could not see through her glamour charm.

The day was uneventful but that night she woke only hours after going to sleep once again. She pulled herself from the nightmare and with tears streaming down her face and her body shaking beyond control she dragged herself into the bathroom, perhaps a nice hot shower would help her.

It was close to an hour later when she had calmed down enough to go back to bed. This time, however, it was less than 20 minutes later that she woke up in a sweat again. She would not get any more sleep tonight.

This went on every night that week, Hermione was getting less than 2 hours sleep a night on average and was having to cast stronger and stronger glamour charms on herself every morning. She was sure that a few people were beginning to notice and she had the odd feeling that Luna Lovegood could see straight through it but it wasn't until the Monday night of the next week that someone brought it up with her. She had just woke sweating and crying from her latest nightmare when her bedroom door opened quietly and a lone figure walked in before it closed again. She didn't think she would have even noticed had it not been for the dieing embers from the fire in the sitting room casting a line of light directly in her eyes before the door closed. She froze, unsure who it was.

"H-Hermione, are you ok?" Draco sounded tired, though that was not surprising, it was after midnight and he had probably been fast asleep.

"Oh Draco, its you."

"Yeah, what's wrong? You sound like you have been crying." Hermione was over tired and exhausted, she didn't have the energy to disagree with him, she didn't even have the energy to agree with him, all she could do was cry. So she did. "Hey," he quickly walked over to her bedside and sat on the edge of the bed. "Come here." He pulled her into his arms and at this close distance, even with the darkness, he could see the dark rings under her eyes and the pale complexion of her skin. "What's been going on? Krum hasn't been coming back has he?" She shook her head that was now buried in his bare chest. She was practically sitting on his lap and Draco was thankful that he had decided to put boxer shorts on before coming in here. "You want to tell me what is going on?" Hermione did not respond for a moment and took this time to compose herself, she did not mean to collapse into his arms like a maiden in distress.

"Sorry about that." She muttered. Draco smiled at her to show that he understood and didn't mind. "it was just a bad dream."

"A bad dream that you have been having every night for a week now and is causing you to get no sleep?" She dipped her head guiltily. "You want to talk about it?" She paused before shaking her head. "I wont tell anyone or-"

"I know Draco, it's not that I don't trust you, it's just that to tell you I would have to beak a promise that I made to someone else. I am not allowed to tell you."

"Ok, well if you change your mind I am here ok. Do you want me to stay until you fall asleep again?"

"I cant go back to sleep Draco, I am too scared."

"I will run down to the dungeons and get you some dreamless sleep potion if you want."

"I have already tried it, Madam Pomfry gave me some when it first started but, well, it didn't do anything."

"Maybe she brewed it wrong, Professor Snape will have a properly brewed batch in his stores cupboard, and if you don't want him to know its for you then that is fine, I can tell him it is for me, or sneak it out without him knowing."

"Draco, Professor Snape brews all the potions for the Infirmary, not Madam Pomfry. And like you said, he never gets in wrong."

"Oh," Draco hung his head. "There has to be something that will help, you look so tired, what if I- um, I mean if it is alright with you, I will stay, all night." Draco looked a little nervous and would not meet her eyes after he said this. Hermione didn't know how to react. She was married. Sure it was to a man that she didn't love and who didn't love her and they would probably go their separate ways after school and get on with their lives as best as you could while being eternally bonded to someone you don't love. And Draco didn't know that.

"Draco I-"

"I'm gay."

"What?

"I am gay Hermione. No one knows, well you do, and I am pretty sure Blaise has worked it out but, I mean, I am not going to try anything with you or anything. I just want to be here for you."

"Oh," Hermione let out a breath that she did not realise she was holding and relaxed a little. "That would be nice, if you don't mind. I think the presence of someone would help." Draco snuggled under the warm sheets and pulled the still uncertain Hermione into his arms. He may be gay, but he had not always been and even after he had discovered he was he had slept with half a dozen girls. She soon relaxed into his warm embrace and finally managed to drift off to sleep, though it was long after he had.

She woke up about 4 hours later, sweat drenched her pyjamas and she was shaking but it was by far the best nights sleep she had had in a week. She lay in Draco's arms for close to an hour, watching the sun rise, before he finally stirred.

"Morning." She smiled at him. He let out a little scream and tried to scramble away from her only to get tangled up in the sheets. By the time he had detangled himself he had woken up a little more and could remember the events of the night before.

"Sorry," He mumbled. "You startled me." Hermione stifled a giggle behind her hand as she looked at his tasselled hair and sleepy eyes. He looked remarkable hansom like this.

"You are gonna make some guy very happy one day Draco." This unexpected comment caught Draco off guard and he answered before he could stop himself.

"Yeah, but not the guy I want." Hermione looked at him and he quickly changed the subject. "How did you sleep?"

"Loads better, thanks." Hermione followed his lead, realizing that this was something that he obviously didn't want to talk about at the moment. "I am still a little tired, but I slept." She left out the fact that she still had nightmares but they just weren't as bad. She did not want to worry him.

"Hermione, I really think you need to tell someone about this."

"I did, I told you."

"You know what I mean, a teacher or something. Someone who can help you."

"No one can help me Draco, I have tried everything!"

"I still think you should tell someone."

"Well if you want me to tell someone so badly why don't you go and tell someone."

"Fine then, I will." And he was gone before she could stop him. She ran out of the room, hoping to stop him. She did not want it spread around the school that she was too scared to sleep. He was not in the common room so she rushed to his bedroom door. It was locked, the dozen unlocking spells she tried did not work so she resorted to banging on the door and shouting at him to come out. He didn't and after 30 minutes she had to go or else she would miss breakfast and she knew that Ron and Harry would be up here in seconds, despite the fact that Ron was still not talking to her, to demand why she wasn't there. She dressed quickly, in case Draco should try and sneak out while she was changing but when she came back out his bedroom door was still locked and so she could only assume that he was still in there. After another more subdued, one sided conversation through the door she hurried down to the great hall and slid into the seat beside Harry. She piled some food onto her plate and began to nibble on it as she looked around the hall. She was not really very hungry but she could feel Harry watching her and knew that she could not pull any of her old tricks with Harry watching her so closely. She almost spit out her juice when she saw a tuff of white hair sticking out among the slytherine students, how did he get down here before her! She watched him for a minute, trying to work out if he was spreading around that she was a scaredy cat while going through all the possible outcomes of what would happen if she stormed over there and demanded silence from him. After a few moments she decided that storming over there would not be the best option, instead she would spread his secret too. But as she turned to tell Harry her courage failed her, she was not one to rush into a situation without knowing the facts. That was Ron's style. No, instead she would wait until someone came to tease her, then she would let them know, though she doubted that she would actually have enough anger in her, even then, to tell his secret.

Hermione was so caught up in watching Draco as he purposely did not make eye contact with her that she did not notice the potions master watching her closely, his eyes narrowed and his back ridged. In fact it wasn't until her potions class that she noticed anything out of the ordinary with her husband. Though she was one of the few who didn't notice. Professor Snape had handed out a record number of detentions in the three classes he had already had that morning and at least 100 points was missing from each house, including Slytherine. The headmaster was running around with damage control duties as the school was now overrun with crying first and second years that either had had a class with him that morning or had been unfortunate enough to step into his line of vision in the halls. Hermione rocked up at her NEWTS potion class completely oblivious to all of this. She had spend the whole day so far wondering when the teasing would start, surprised that it hadn't started already and fretting about what she would say to Draco that night. She was still overtired and so as she walked into her potions class she did not notice the death stare that Professor Snape sent her way. Instead she dumped her belongings on her desk and collapsed into the chair. Although the sleep had helped, her tiredness was hitting her harder now that she had managed to get some decent sleep. Draco was already at his desk and sent Hermione a worried look. Professor saw it and it was the last straw.

"Miss Granger. sit up straight, this is not a lounge!" He yelled at her. She jumped and looked up slightly confused. Many of the other students were slouched down in their chairs as well. Harry and Ron came through the door at that instant, making them a good 30 seconds late yet Professor Snape ignored them. Now she knew something was wrong. Did he need her to get detention again? No, this was serious. She straighten herself up without a word but Draco, surprisingly, jumped to her defence.

"Leave her alone Snape." The whole class was silent. Draco had stood up and was standing behind the professor. He held his wand in his hand though it was not held up but clutched at his side.

"Mister Malfoy, I would suggest that you return to your seat and put your wand away. You will not need it in this class."

"No Professor, not until you back off Hermione." The use of Hermiones first name by Draco came as another shock to the class and a few whispers began to spread but they stopped as soon as Professor Snape began to speak again.

"Miss Granger, as Mr Malfoy seems so intent on defending you, he is your new lab partner, move all of your belongings over beside him. I am sure that Mr Longbottom will be able to cope on his own and this way you and your partner will be able to stay nice and… close to each other." Something about the way he said the word 'close' worried Hermione. What was going on with him? "Mister Malfoy, I have already warned you to put away your wand."

"Yes Professor," He said without moving. "You also always taught me to be on guard." Professor Snape moved so fast that he was little more than a blur to most people but Hermione was close enough to see her professors fist collide with Draco's jaw. Draco hit the ground, clutching his jaw, his wand lay forgotten on the floor.

"Owwwwwe, what the hell was that for?"

"What you are yet to realise Mr Malfoy," Professor Snape drawled as he gently massaged his knuckles. "Is that not all attacks come in the form of magic." Hermione was down on the floor in an instant to help Draco. She asked if he was ok before helping him up and rounding around on Professor Snape.

"Twenty points from Slytherine for hitting a student and so help me if I could give you detention I would." Professor Snape looked livid.

"Miss Granger I-"

"No, you will shut up and listen. You had no right to do that, and even if you did, you are a teacher and should not resort to violence! He is a student and you are his teacher." With that she turned her attention back to Draco and began to lead him out of the class.

"20 points from Gryffindor for sharing your bed with another student Miss Granger." Hermione stopped in her tracks, his voice was so quiet but she knew that every student in the room had heard it. She didn't know how to react. Draco stiffened beside her and she knew that if she didn't react fast Draco may end up with a matching bruise on the other side of his jaw. She released her hold on Draco and spun around on one heel. Her husband stood no more than 5 paces away with his weight on one foot waiting for her answer. She covered the short distance between them and raised her hand to slap him. He caught it easily but she was expecting this and used his moment of triumph to bring her other hand up and slap him on the opposite side. His grip on her wrist tightened at the impact before he released her in shock. She quickly grabbed hold of Draco again and led him out of the dungeons and up to the infirmary. Professor Snape stood shocked for a moment before he suddenly went back to his usual cold self and resumed the class as normal, or as normally as he could when all that the students wanted to do was talk about the commotion that had just occurred.


	6. Chapter 6

A/N: Am I a good little girl or what!!! I think at times such as this there is a quote that applies quite well. "Give a busy person a job and they will find time to do it, give a bored person a job and they will do everything but it. (the job my husband gave me was the washing up, and so far I have done two loads of clothes washing, tidied up the whole lounge, vacuumed, watched the entire mini series of BBC's Pride and Prejudice, dusted, written one chapter and edited two for this ff and cooked dinner. The washing (4 plates, 2 bowls, 16 pieces of cutlery, 3 glasses, a frying pan and a knife) still sit happily on the dirty side of the sink.)

But its good news for all of you guys!!!!! Enjoy

Chapter 6

Hermione dreaded the moment when her husband would make her sorry for her actions but she did not care at this moment. She was too angry, tired and annoyed to care what he did. It couldn't be worse than what she had already been through in her life. She sat on the chair beside Draco's bed as Madam Pomfry fussed over him and shoved half a dozen potions down his throat. The last one was a sleeping potion but he stopped her before she could force it down his throat.

"Madam, if it is ok, I would like to wait until I am back up in my room before I take this." Madam Pomfry looked worried but eventually nodded that it was ok and handed him the bottle. They had not told her how Draco had received a dislocated jaw and they both knew that she was not happy about this. Hermione helped Draco back up to their room and into his bed and it wasn't until he was comfortably tucked in that their staggered and uncomfortable conversation turned back to the events of the potions class.

"Hermione, I really don't like that Snape knew what happened last night."

"And what, you think that I do?" Hermione hid her guilt behind anger. Professor Dumbledore had said something about building a pathway between her quarters and her husbands. Could it have happened without her knowing?

"No, of course not it's just that, well, I think he was jealous or something."

"Are you sure that the punch didn't affect your brain as well. This is Snape we are talking about. Unless he was jealous because you aren't spending all your time with him then-"

"Don't lie to me Hermione; at least have the decency to say that you don't trust me enough to tell me what the hell is going on." He answered angrily.

"It's not that Draco. It's," She sighed. "You know the other day I told you that there was something that I couldn't tell you coz I made a promise to them. Well, it is related to that and I, I don't know what is going on anymore Draco. I don't even know who I am anymore! Snape was right, I have become a liar. I have told more lies to Harry in this last week than I have told him truths. And Ron doesn't even talk to me any more so a cant lie to him and then there is you. I actually want to tell you the truth and I can't so I just make up more lies. I am sorry Draco. I, I just want to go to bed." Tears began to run down her cheeks and she turned away in an attempt to hide them from Draco. It didn't work.

"Here," He handed her a bottle, "have a drink." It wasn't until she had taken a large mouthful that she realised he had given her the sleeping potion.

"Draco, this was meant for you!" She cried.

"You need it more. Come on, lie down." She obeyed, the potion already lulling her into a sleep that she knew wouldn't last long. As soon as she was asleep Draco began organising her in his bed so that she was warm and comfortable. He leant down to kiss her forehead when he heard a scoff from behind him.

"Disgusting Draco. I would have expected more from you." Professor Snape gave his godson a long hard look and turned to leave.

"Wait, I was just about to come down and find you."

"Well then I guess you will still have to. Goodbye." He disappeared through the door and by the time Draco caught up there was no sight of him. Draco returned to his room and started to take down the complicated wards over his fireplace. It took him five minutes to do but once he was finished he cast some floo powder in and called out the complicated address that would allow him to step through into his godfathers study. He arrived just in time to see Professor Snape walk in through his bedroom door. That surprised Draco, he expected to get down a lot faster than his godfather.

"We need to talk." Draco stood firm, hiding any trace of surprise in a look of annoyance.

"Talk away Draco but I can not guaranty that I will listen."

"You will listen Severus. This is more important that some childish grudge or temper tantrum. Now I have no idea what put you in such a mood today but Hermione-"

"Hermione," Professor Snape sneered the word as though it left a foul taste in his mouth, "is nothing more than an insufferable know it all how has been a thorn in my backside since the day I met her."

"See now I know it has something to do with her, I have heard the way you talk about her in private Snape. You respect her, and her intelligence. I don't know what is going on between you but I do know that I had to hold her all last night-"

"Ah yes, you slept with her. Tell me Draco is the mudblood good in bed or was she just another conquer for you?"

"I should kill you right now but I think you are the only one who can help her. I am not like that anymore Severus, and you of all people should know that I never really was like that at all."

"And why should you want to help her Draco, you hate her."

"Not for a long time, another thing that you know."

"No, but I didn't realise that you were completely infatuated with her. I though you had higher standards than that."

"If you insult her one more time Snape I will hex your hair bright pink! I am not infatuated with her I am friends with her and I am helping her because that is what friends do. They help each other. Now you will shut up and you will listen."

"You really think that you can excuse your relationship as a friendship after your display last night. You disgust me Draco."

"What 'display' last night. She was-"

"You were in bed with her!"

"I'm GAY!" The last word seemed to echo through the professors quarters as silence finally settled over the study. Draco paused for a moment before speaking again. "Now what I am telling you is a secret. You cannot tell anyone. Hermione will probably never speak to me again for telling you as it is but she needs help and she is too headstrong and independent to ask for it so I will do it for her." He paused, half expecting Severus to butt in again. He sank into a nearby chair and motioned for his godson to continue. "She has been having nightmares. Bad ones. I am sure that you have noticed the glamour charm she has been wearing the past week or so. I saw her without it last night and she looked terrible, I don't think she has had a good night sleep since, well, since the whole Krum thing. I was with her last night, and it helped, but not enough. She told me that it was tonnes better and that she slept but she still tossed and turned most of the night and she woke up before dawn. She didn't want me to worry but I knew that even with me there she wouldn't get enough sleep." Severus finally spoke up.

"And why are you telling this to me, shouldn't you speak to her head of house about this?"

"No offence to Professor McGonagall but what is she supposed to do, transfigure a pillow for her. Hermione said that she has already tried everything that she knows so if there is something that she doesn't know it is going to be you that knows it, and all that aside, I don't know what is going on between you but it is your name she screams out every night before waking up." Severus sat up abruptly at that news and starred in shock directly at his godson. After a moment he collapsed back into the chair, his face showing nothing but anger and annoyance now.

"Then I truly do not know what you came to me. She is probably scared to death of me. You have waisted your tim-" He paused. Suddenly alert again. Draco made to speak but Severus motioned for him to be silent. After almost 30 seconds of this alert silence Severus finally relaxed back into the chair. "You can come out now Miss Granger, and next time you decide to spy on someone don't try and argue the point they are making." Draco looked around, not knowing where she would emerge from. He was shocked to see her guiltily enter the room by the bedroom door.

"How did you get in there?" Draco asked her. She didn't respond. She was dreading what her husband would say. It was not what she expected.

"I owe you an apology for my behaviour today. I am sorry." Both Hermione and Draco starred at the eldest occupant of the room. Neither had ever heard him apologize before.

"Ah, I, I am sorry too." Hermione mumbled. There was silence for a moment.

"Well this sure is cosy." Draco laughed nervously. "Next thing you will be wanting to kick me out so you can have some time alone."

"That is actually precisely what I am wanting of you. I am glad you offered, it saves me having to throw you out. You may leave by floo." Severus spoke briskly, covering up any uncertainty that may still have been present.

"Now hang on, no way am I leaving you alone with her Severus. I know you too well to trust you. I am not leaving her alone with you in your quarters. I don't know how she got in here but I know that she doesn't even know where the front door is." Draco had gone from shocked and nervous to confidant and defiant in an instant and he now stood pointing an accusing finger at his godfather while his other hand rested on his waist, next to his wand.

"Draco calm down. You were the one that asked for my help, how do you expect me to help her if I do not have contact with her?"

"Through me! You don't go near her Snape."

"I do not get you two." Hermione finally spoke up. Both of them turned to her. "One minute you are like best friends and then the next you prove that you obviously have absolutely no trust for each other."

"We are Slytherines, Miss Granger, we are the greatest of friends, that is why we know not to trust each other."

"That and he punched me no more than a few hours ago." Draco rubbed his jaw and shot Severus a glare. He did not even look remorseful but instead fixed Draco with a glare of his own.

"Yes, I am not a man that usually results to violence but sleep with my wife again and you will be sucking all your meals threw a straw for a month, and that will be the least of your problems." Both Hermione and Draco froze.

"Your what?!" Draco shouted at Severus before turning his gaze towards Hermione. She refused to meet his eyes. "Explain." He crossed his arms across his chest and tapped his foot on the ground to show his impatience.

"I thought you had told him." Professor Snape cast a puzzled look towards Hermione.

"What made you think I had told him, I was sworn to secrecy, remember. I cant even tell Harry, let alone my parents!"

"Yes but, you mean to say you haven't told Potter yet."

"No."

"I, well, my respect for you just doubled." He muttered more to himself than to Hermione.

"Ah, I am waiting!" Draco snapped them out of their thoughts.

"It's the marriage law Draco. The headmaster set it up for me, but it was meant to be kept a secret." At this last comment she shot her husband a frustrated look. "It was so no deatheater could try and marry me or anything."

"I am married to her to ensure her safety and so that I can protect her."

"Well it's a fine job your doing Severus," Draco bit sarcastically. "How long for?"

"A little over a week. Now leave." Professor Snape answered.

"Ah, I think we decided that I wasn't leaving you alone with her."

"It is my job to protect her Draco, do you really think I am going to do anything to her, can you imagine what Albus would say?"

"I don't care what your job is, I am not leaving you alone with her. She is weak, and overtired. Now give me something that will help her sleep so that we can go back up to our quarters and go to sleep."

"You will not sleep with my wife Mr Malfoy, do you understand me?" Draco had never seen his godfather in such a rage and he shrunk away from him but he did not give up on his argument.

"I will not leave her with you, especially when you are like this." His voice was quiet but firm.

"Both of you stop this!" Hermione, who's presence had been all but forgotten, yelled at them both. Her husband seemed to deflate and Draco looked slightly ashamed of himself. "I am tired, so I am going to bed now. When you two sort out your personal issues feel free to see if you can find a way for me to actually sleep, until then I will be tossing and turning and as you are both now well aware, no sleep for a long time does not help my temper. She turned and began walking back towards the bedroom door. Draco made to stop her, he could not understand why she was going to Professor Snape's bedroom.

"Wait," Severus beat him to it. "Please sleep in my bed, I would like to keep a close watch on you and if I come up with a possible solution I would like you near and I will need to watch you anyway." She hesitated but finally nodded and continued towards the bedroom. Draco was thoroughly confused.

"How did she get into your bedroom before?" Severus sighed.

"The headmaster arranged a tunnel between her quarters and mine. It exits into our respective bedrooms. Obviously she has found the one in her room."

"I don't think her sleeping here is such a good idea Professor." He threw his godson a dark look before walking towards the bedroom door.

"If you will excuse me, Draco, I am going to go and tuck my wife in and make sure she is ok." Draco grabbed his arm and stopped him. Severus looked back at the young boy and for the first time in a long time saw fear in the boys eyes. Severus knew instantly why, the last time he had seen that look was in Dracos first year when Snape had the unfortunate task of telling him that his mother had taken his father back. "You do not need to worry Draco, I am not your father. Me hitting you today was a great mistake but I would expect you to take the same steps if you thought your wife, ah or husband, was in danger. I thought you had coerced her into sharing a bed with you." Draco seemed to relax for the first time since he had entered his godfathers chambers.

"Ok Severus, but if I find out that you have hurt her in any way I will not hesitate to kill you." The seriousness in Draco's voice almost made Severus proud of the boy.

"I am glad that she has someone like you to protect her, but please, if it ever comes to that, hear my side of the story first." And with that he practically pushed Draco out the door and returned back to his study. He stood in front of the door to his bedroom for almost 15 minutes before he built up the courage to knock, and he only got there by scolding himself about his own weakness at not being able to enter his own bedroom. A quiet and unsure 'come in' answered his brief knock and he paused for a second before opening the door, his eyes fell straight on his bed and the form in it. The huge doona seemed to swallow her up and her small figure on his large bed only served as another reminder that she was his _child _bride.

"Try and get some sleep Miss Granger, I will be in the next room if you need me." She hesitated and Professor Snape was sure that she was about to ask him something but in the end she simply nodded and he closed the door and retired to one of the armchairs in his study. He did not know how to act around this seemingly fragile being.


	7. Chapter 7

A/N: Hello all of my happy bunnies, How are you all? Here is ch7 as promised, though slightly later then what I was hoping as I was commissioned to cook dinner tonight. This will be the last chappy for a few days as you have all caught up to me and the next chapter needs serious editing and chapter 9 is only about 100 words so far. Anyway, hope you all enjoy!!!!

And may you all have sun shine on your flowers and rain on your fields. (Yeah, I have a cold, I go a little crazy(er) when I am sick.)

Chapter 7

An hour had passed since Draco had left, they had all missed dinner due to their argument and now Severus was beginning to feel sleepy as he sat in the armchair with the dieing light of the fire lulling him into an over-comfy state. It was just as his eyes finally drooped closed that it happened. He expected her to call out, but he was not expecting his first name.

"SEVERUS!" Hermione woke in a cold sweat, tears were streaming down her cheeks and she could not stop shaking. Waking up in a strange room did not help and her mind was still fogged with the remnants of the nightmare. She panicked.

Severus was in there as fast as his legs could carry him. Years as a spy had made him hyper aware and he has woken instantly from his doze and had known exactly what was going on. He entered the dark room and clicked his fingers, a dozen candles lit instantly, this was a bad move. Hermione, who was standing on the bed still dressed in her school uniform, held her wand tightly in her hand and was poised ready to fight or flee. As soon as the lights went on she spun her head, trying to discern where the light had come from and shield her eyes from the brightness all at the same time. Her eyes finally found Severus in the confusion and she held his eyes but did not lower her wand. He knew it, he was right. The girl was scared to death of him, she was probably having nightmares about consummating their marriage or something.

"Who are you?" Her voice shook with fear and he knew that I hex was resting on her lips if he should try anything rash. He thought it best just to answer her question for now.

"Severus Tobias Snape." He replied calmly. Her head shook violently but her eyes never left his.

"No, who are you to me?" he did not understand. What did she mean? Oh.

"I am your husband." She seemed to deflate at his answer. Her shoulders slumped forward and her wand slipped from her fingertips. Severus hesitated for a moment as he watched her slowly crumble. She sank to her knees on the bed and fresh tears began to roll down her eyes as she began to shake again. He walked hesitantly towards her, unsure what was happening or if she would want his comfort. As soon as he was in her reach she grabbed hold of his shirt and pulled him towards her. Her fingers attempted to take hold of him rather than his shirt and she cried freely into his chest.

"Its you, it is really you." She muttered into his shirt before wrapping her arms around him tightly and began to cry even harder. Severus was shocked, he did not know how to react. The last woman to have freely hugged his was his mother and she had died when he was 8. Slowly he wrapped his arms around her. After a moment he mentally shook himself awake and began to comfort and sooth her.

A large patch of his shirt was wet by the time she finally stopped crying but he did not care. She gently pulled away from him and he found himself reluctant to let her go but he knew that now that she had come back to her senses she would regret seeking comfort from him and so he released his hold and let his arms drop to his sides.

"I am so sorry Professor, I did not mean to get your shirt wet. Or to cry all over you. I am sorry." She sobbed as she wiped her face on the sleeve of her shirt.

"Don't be stupid girl, it is a shirt, it will dry. A-are you alright?" The question sounded odd from him, especially since it was asked with very little concern in his voice. She looked up at him and was surprised to find concern in his eyes. He quickly schooled his features but she had read in his eyes all that she needed to know.

"I think so, thank you Professor." He cleared his throat nervously.

"Miss Granger, do you want to tell me what your nightmare was about? In detail please."

"Not really Professor," she smiled weakly at him. "But I suppose I don't really have a choice, do I."

"No, if you don't tell me than I am afraid that I will have to use other means to discover the answer."

"Well we cant have that, can we? Ok, but please don't laugh, or tell me that I am a silly little girl or anything like that. Remember that I have tried dreamless sleep potion and spells and all sorts of muggle methods to try and get to sleep and none of them will work. One of the reasons Draco was so surprised to see me while you two were arguing was because he had drugged me with enough sleeping potion to last all night so this is more serious than some little girls nightmares ok." Severus nodded, he had already summarized that whatever was happening was far more serious than just ordinary nightmares.

"We, as in you and I, are at what looks like a deatheater's meeting. You are kneeling down in front of me and there is a ring of deatheaters around us. There is a huge old mansion behind you that is covered in vines and every window is broken. Suddenly two deatheaters step out of the circle and everyone moves around a little so that there are no gaps. They walk up behind you and pull off their masks. One of them is Krum and the other is V-voldemort and I know that they are going to hurt you so I try to run forward to you but there are other deatheaters holding me back and then they start torturing you and they curse you and they cut you and," Hermione paused to draw in a long and shaky breathe. She was on the verge of tears again but she did not want to cry again. "and you are bleeding to death in front of me and I know it is my fault and everyone else is laughing. S-sometimes you manage to break away from them for a bit but instead of running yo-you come and comfort me and try and help me but there is never enough time and they drag you back to your knees and start torturing you again and I cant get away and you, you are dieing at my feet and," her whole body shook with silent tears as the memories flooded back in her mind. After a moment she took a deep breath. "And that is usually when I wake up, but there was m-more tonight." She finally looked him in the eyes, "I woke up, and you came running in, and, well, you called me petal. Right then and there I knew something was wrong. You came over and sat on the bed and started comforting me and then you, he, the man that looked like you, started to, um, g-grope me an-and I d-didn't know what was going on professor, it was so scary and I could tell that whoever it was had an illusion charm on but it was all too much. I thought you were dead and then you were, you scared me."

"That would explain your reaction when you first woke up."

"Yeah," She attempted a weak and watery smile. "Sorry about that."

"It is quite understandable Miss Granger." They sat in silence for a while as Severus thought about what he had just been told. It was close to 20 minutes later when he turned to ask his wife another question only to discover her fast asleep in the crook of his arm. He lay her down and tucked her back under the blankets but as soon as he stood and turned to walk out of the bedroom he knew something wasn't right. Only a moment ago she had looked so peaceful and now her body was tense and her face was contort with fear.

"Miss Granger." Professor Snape walked back over to her, she was still asleep but it was obvious that she was having the nightmare again. He placed his hand on her forehead to check her temperature and she calmed almost instantly. Confused by this he took a step back and watched as her body grew tense again. He knew what he had to do now. Sighing heavily he removed his cloak, walked around to the other side of the bed and sat on the edge. He could not believe that he was even contemplating this. He kicked off his shoes and rested his feet on the bed in front of him. He could sleep sitting up all night but he knew he would not sleep well and he would wake with a sore neck and back. No, he would have to lie down. He lay on top of the doona despite the cold. He would not lower himself further and his clothes would offer him enough warmth. Even with him lying less than a meter away Hermione still looked troubled. Professor Snape reached out and took one of her small hands in his own and she calmed again. Peace and relaxation returned to her face and her whole body relaxed under the doona.

She woke after the best sleep she had had in over a week to discover warm arms around her and warmth down her back. Someone was spooning her. She was not awake enough yet to remember where she was or who she was with. Her immediate reaction was to snuggle into the warmth but she quickly stopped herself and tried to detangle herself from the strong arms that held her close. They tightened around her and it was only then that she realized one of his hands rested firmly on her breast. She didn't know what to do and every time she moved she could feel his arms tighten to keep her there and the movement caused his hands to flex slightly and she was not too comfortable with what that meant he did to her. She had finally managed to pry the hand away from her, after realizing that it was her husband that was snuggled up behind her, when he woke.

"Good morning Hermione." He mumbled before leaning over and kissing her cheek. She stiffened in his arms, she did not know how to react, especially now that he was even closer to her she could not help but notice his erection as he subconsciously rubbed it against her lower back. Draco suddenly walked in and she didn't know whether to leap into his arms and thank him for rescuing her or hide under the covers in shame. Draco did a double take when he saw the two wrapped up under the covers on his godfathers large bed. There was certainly no reason why they needed to be that close. Draco walking in was all Severus needed to wake up properly and he attempted to scramble away from his wife but he became entangled in the doona. It was too late anyway.

"What the hell is going on here Severus?" Draco all but screamed at his godfather. "I left you alone so that you could help her, not sleep with her. If you did so much as touch her I will kill you!" Hermione was suddenly very glad she had managed to move his hand before either Draco or Professor Snape had discovered it.

"It is not what it looks like Draco, this was the only way, argh, damn this thing." Severus was still hopelessly fighting with the doona but gave up with a huff. Hermione gently took hold of one corner of the doona and with a swift flick removed it. Her husband jumped off the bed as fast as he could and stalked over to the cupboard. He threw his cloak over his shoulders and regained his composer. Hermione suddenly remembered the feel of his erection on her lower back and quickly hid her blush in a cough fit. An instant later the headmaster walked through the door.

"Are you ok there Miss Granger?" He asked her with no serious concern. She nodded but would not look her headmaster in the eyes. "Good, good. Mr Malfoy I believe you found our missing student and teacher. Thank you. You may go back to your room now."

"With all due respect Sir, I would rather stay." Draco was giving his godfather a cold, hard look.

"Ah, I don't know if that is-"

"It is ok Albus, the boy knows, and has the right to an explanation." He did not remove his eyes from Draco as he spoke. He knew his godson well enough to know that he meant his words from last night. "It's her nightmares Draco. I can stop them! I don't know how or why yet but all I had to do was touch her and she calmed down."

"You were doing a lot more than just touching her when I walked in!"

"I swear to you Draco that when I went to bed last night not only was I above the doona but I was doing no more than holding her hand."

"Now just a minute, what is going on here?" Albus suddenly demanded.

"I will explain later, for now-"

"Hold on," Albus cut in. "You are a teacher at this school and she is a student. I think I deserve an explanation as to your whereabouts today and why I had to teach all of your classes. Not to mention the roomers that are flying about in regards to the argument you three had yesterday and then you two going off and disappearing like that. So I don't want an explanation later, I want one NOW!"

"I, what, what do you mean you had to teach my classes?"

"Just that Severus, the last time either of you were seen was last night by Mr Malfoy and that was over 24 hours ago. what is wrong with you, what made you think that you could just skip class. And you Miss Granger, I would have expected better from you!"

"Back off Albus, she had nothing to do with this. We only woke up an instant before you two came stampeding through the door. Miss Granger hasn't slept for over a week now and I haven't had a decent nights sleep for close to 2 decades. I think last night, and today, was a well deserved rest for both of us." Hermione seemed to finally catch with the conversation as she let out a small 'eep' and then jumped off the bed.

"You mean I missed a whole day of classes?!"

"Miss Granger calm down." Both of the professors said.

"Don't worry 'Mione, I got all of your homework." Draco smirked from the back. She sent him a genuine smile before turning her attention back to the other occupants of the room.

"If you will excuse me, I have homework to do. Goodbye." She didn't quite know how to react around the two professors but her confidence lay in the knowledge that one knew nothing about the nights evens and the other one didn't know the more embarrassing aspects of her waking this morning.

"Miss Granger," the stern voice of her husband stopped her before she had even begun to walk. "You will report back here in," he glanced at a nearby clock and was surprised to see that it was almost 9pm. "One and a half hours, that should give you enough time to complete any urgent homework and the rest can wait." Her shoulders slumped in defeat as she turned and walked out of the room followed by Draco. Just before he closed the door the headmasters' voice drifted through.

"You have some explaining to do Severus." Hermione turned to Draco with a worried look but he just took her by the arm and began leading her towards the exit of Severus's chambers. After checking that the coast was clear they hurried up to the head's common room without being discovered. Upon arrival Hermione promptly sat down and began her homework while Draco bombarded her with questions, most of which she could not answer as she had been asleep.


	8. Chapter 8

A/N: Hey all, I know that I said I couldn't update for a few days but I was inspired and so I dedicate this chapter to Sayrika!!!!!!!!

Thanks to all of you for the wonderful reviews and may your day be what you want it to be and your night filled with ideas so you don't get any sleep coz you are too busy writing them all down!!!!!!!

Chapter 8

It was close to two hours later when Hermione finally looked up from her homework and glanced around the common room. Draco was fast asleep in the chair next to her and the pile of homework she had been given by Draco was now a small pile compared to the pile twice the size of essays and explanations. She was almost half way through now and although she knew her husband would not be happy with her being late she did not care, she didn't want to go back and lie in his bed, in his warm, comforting arms that made her feel so safe and protected. She didn't want to see his kind caring eyes looking at her with such worry for her. No, that was the last thing she wanted right now. She sighed as a shiver went through her body as she remembered the feel of him against her when she had woken up. She absentmindedly twirled her quill in her fingers as she thought of the way he held her. She knew it was only because he was asleep that it had happened but she couldn't help remembering his reaction when he woke up. She could still feel the warmth on her cheek from where he had kissed her. It had been such a perfect moment, and he had called her Hermione! A small smile crept onto her lips and her eyes glazed over as she thought about it.

She was suddenly thrown from her thoughts by the cold voice of her husband echoing through the heads common room.

"Miss Granger, it is almost eleven, I do not know what you are playing at but my room is not a hotel. I said 10:30 and I meant 10:30, you seem to be making a habit of not keeping our appointments at the moment." Draco, by this stage, was wide awake and had taken to glaring at his godfather again.

"I am a student, Professor, and I have homework, what time I choose to do my homework is none of your business as long as I am not breaking any school rules by doing so."

"You are breaking rules Miss Granger because you are disobeying a teacher."

"Oh yes, 'Miss Granger, come to my bed.' Have fun trying to get me expelled for that one."

"Miss Granger, may I remind you that I am trying to _help _you here." She deflated and turned back to her homework. She glanced at it briefly, she had completed everything that was due in the next week and she would be way ahead of everyone else in the school. She sighed and began packing up her things. It was then that she noticed Draco was still giving his godfather a death stare.

"Should I be leaving you alone for a bit or something?" she said half jokingly. Draco nodded and there was not even the hint of a joke in his attitude. Hermione gathered her things and walked over to her room, she glanced nervously back once before going into her room and closing the door. Severus immediately cast a silencing charm and turned to look at his godson who began to throw question after question at him.

Meanwhile Hermione began to change into her pajamas, she had been in the same clothes for two days now and she didn't like the idea of having to sleep in them again. After she had changed she sat on her bed, it made her slightly sad to think that she may never sleep on it again. It was far to risky for her and Professor Snape to sleep in her quarters and unless they found a 'cure' for her nightmares she would have to spend every night with her professor. A sudden thought occurred to her and at that moment Professor Snape walked through the door.

"What happens after school?" The question seemed random to Professor Snape and he looked at her in confusion.

"Well, generally students graduate and then leave to go and continue their life in the world." He answered uncertainly.

"No, I mean to us. We are married, but I didn't think it was going to make a huge difference, other than in our social lives. But now, what if I am still having to come running to you bedside every night? This is becoming more and more complicated by the minute and-"

"Miss Granger, calm down." He walked over to her side and sat her down on her bed beside him. "We will work something out before then, now would you like to bring a few things down to my quarters so that you are not having to traipse all the way back up in the middle of the night?" Hermione sat for a moment, she had panicked and she was slightly ashamed of her reaction. After she had regained her composure she quickly stood and began to seemingly randomly grab things from shelves and cupboards and dump them on her bed. Finally she had a pile of things and she began stuffing them all into her school bag that did not seem to have difficulty fitting in the multitude of items.

During this time Professor Snape sat quietly and watched her, when she was finally ready to leave he stood and gently removed her bag from her shoulder. With the bag in one hand and the other on the small of his wifes back he led her to the secret door that opened into the tunnel. After only a short walk they reached his quarters.

"Please, make yourself comfortable Miss Granger. I will return shortly." He span on his heel and exited into his study. Hermione quickly unpacked a few essentials and, after discovering the bathroom, brushed her teeth before curling up in the massive bed with a good book. She didn't think that she would ever get used to the fact that she was now sharing a bed with a teacher.

It was like this that Professor Snape found her. The light from the candle casting odd shadows on her face as her eyes flicked across the page. He cleared his throat to alert her of his presence; she jumped slightly before looking up at him and smiling weakly.

"I have- researched a few separation charms that should prevent a reoccurrence of our awakening earlier. I really must apologize for my behaviour although I am myself somewhat bewildered as to how we came to be in such a precarious situation."

"I-It's ok Professor, I understand. It was a subconscious action and therefore no fault of yours." She was very thankful that he did not know the full extent of his 'subconscious actions'.

"Arh, thank you Miss Granger. Are you um- ready to retire for the evening?" She nodded her head uncertainly and watched as he unbuttoned his robe. He had obviously changed at some stage in the last two hours as he no longer wore his shirt and trousers but instead wore black satin pants and what looked like an old long-sleeved T-Shirt. Noticing her gaze Professor Snape thought it best to explain his attire. "I do not normally wear a top whilst sleeping, this was the only thing that I could find that was both suitable and comfortable."

"Oh, please don't change your routine because of me." As soon as the words left her mouth she realised what it sounded like and her whole face turned red.

"I think it would be best if I remain as I am." He slid under the covers and took his wifes hand. He gave it a gentle squeeze before casting the separation spell. Immediately Hermione felt alone and if it weren't for the small circular motions that Professor Snape was making on the back of her hand with his thumb she would have been shaking. Despite still being able to see the Professor lying only a short distance from her she felt scared and alone. Even with her tiredness it took Hermione just over an hour to fall asleep.

She woke up warm, arms enfolded her and she could hear the beat of a heart coming from the chest that she was lying on. Wait, chest! She tried to jump away from the Professor that she had flung herself across at some point in the night but his arms tightened around her preventing her from moving.

"I would advise against that Miss Granger." Her husbands smooth voice shocked her, she had assumed from his reaction that he was not yet awake.

"Wha- why? I am sorry Professor, I didn't mean to-" she began to struggle again.

"Miss Granger please calm down." He once again had to restrain her. "We are rather thoroughly tangled up with each other and I fear that if you continue to struggle one of us will end up injured." She froze. "You may breath Miss Granger. Now, could you kindly remove your knee from in between my legs." Turning bright red, Hermione removed her leg as best as possible. Now that she was calm it took them no time at all to detangle themselves. Hermiones red face only grew redder as she slid her hand out of her husbands T-shirt. Once freedom was achieved, Professor Snape grabbed his robe off the back of the door and announced that he was having a shower. Hermione did not blame him for his abrupt behaviour, it had been hard for her not to miss the tenting in his pants, and her thigh had been resting almost on top of the cause for it.

She lay back down and willed the redness away from her face. She heard the water start in the bathroom but knew that even without the endless supply of hot water at Hogwarts she would not have to worry about having a cold shower. She closed her eyes and wondered why the separation spell had not worked.


	9. Chapter 9

A/N: Heya'll my wonderful readers who truly are the best people in the world!!!!

As you may have noticed, a few days have not passed. BUT I LOVE YOU ALL TOO MUCH TO MAKE YOU WAIT!!!!! And with any luck I will have this story finished before I go on holidays or else I will leave you all hanging!!!! This is officially the last bit that I have written so far so my typing fingers will have to work fast in order to achieve this and wonderful reviews make them work so much faster!!!!

Also, last chappy I dedicated to the wonderful Sayrika. I am not in the habit of dedicating chapters so the fact that I am gonna do it again is as unheard of as my sanity, but here you go.

This chapter goes out to Contrary Gurl and blueacidpop

Oh and (long AN, sorry) SHAMELESS CROSS PROMOTION: I am currently writing another HPFF. It does not have a title yet and as I haven't actually written a single word yet and it is all in my head, nothing has been posted, but keep an eye out for it!!!!!!

Chapter 9

This went on for several weeks, over which the school had been alive with roomers and both Harry and Ron had barely spoken a word to her, not that she had given them much chance. Outside of meals and classes she would disappear though the two boys put it down to the roomers and Harry did not blame her. Every night Professor Snape would cast a different separation charm on the bed, even resorting one night to pilling cushions in between them, yet every morning they would wake up snuggled up together. It was a week before the Christmas holiday when Hermione finally suggested that she try sleeping in her own bed again. Professor Snape reluctantly agreed. Although he was skeptical that anything could have changed he desperately needed a night of sleep where he did not need to worry about what compromising position he and his wife would wake up in the morning. And he was looking forward to a nice hot shower. It wasn't until Hermione also made the comment about wanting to go home over the Christmas holidays that Professor Snape suddenly seemed to become distant.

"Miss Granger," he replied coldly, something that shocked Hermione as they had gradually been becoming closer, "I think it would be safer for you to remain at Hogwarts. As for the sleeping arrangements, I will come and check on you tomorrow morning before breakfast, however if you are having difficulties before then I request that you return to my quarters." Before she could respond he had left her alone, his black robe billowing out behind him.

Hermione did not sleep well that night, though she slept far better than she had when the nightmares had first begun. Professor Snape had not even returned to his quarters until the false dawn was casting a light across the lake. He was glad that his wife had obviously not needed his company that night but at the same time he felt disappointed that this would most likely mean the end of their night time conversations and morning embarrassments.

He had spent a good deal of the night arguing with Albus, it was an activity that always left him exhausted and grumpy though he had stood his ground this time. Hermione had every right to know what was going on with her parents and he was sick and tired of the headmasters constant meddling. They both knew that the argument was long from being over!

Hermione was awake but still in bed when he entered. One glance at her told him that although she was not completely rested she had defiantly slept.

"Good morning Miss Granger, how did you sleep?"

"Almost perfectly," it wasn't too much of a lie. "Professor, I know that you said that I would be safer her at Hogwarts over the Christmas holidays, but I really want to go home and see my parents, even if it isn't for the whole holidays."

"I am sorry Miss Granger, I can not allow it."

"Yeah, well I am sorry too Professor because it is not your decision." She bit back. She could see the anger in Professor Snape rise but he knew that it was best not to fight fire with fire in this case.

"Miss Granger," he ground out, "although it is not my decision I strongly suggest that you do not venture from the castle grounds over the Christmas holidays. The risks are far too great."

"Professor Snape," she mimicked his tone, "unless you can give me a solid reason not to go then you cannot stop me."

"Miss Granger, I am your husband and you are sorely mistaken if you believe that I am powerless in this situation. You will not leave the grounds." All attempt at keeping his temper lost, his anger, meant for the headmaster more than for her, spilt out of him. He had yet to sleep and this whole argument could have been avoided if only Albus had not been such a meddler. Before she had a chance to reply, for he knew that it would only end in another sharp retort from him that he would later regret, he left her rooms and returned to his own.

Hermione fumed all day. Ron was still not talking to her and she had seen so little of Harry recently that she felt she could turn to neither of them for comfort. Besides, they wouldn't understand, they would want answers. She had been purposely avoiding Harry, knowing that he was still searching for answers over the whole Krum thing. Draco was always a shoulder that she could cry on, but never in public and it still hurt her how different they were to each other in the privacy of their own rooms. And she couldn't entirely go to her husband for comfort, even if he wasn't the cause of her frustration she couldn't see him being the kind of person that would envelope her in his arms and whisper reassurances in her ear.

In the end the decision was made for her. Harry found her curled up in the library during lunch.

"Hey 'Mione. How are you?" He spoke softly but still managed to startle her. She looked up at him and gave a weak smile. He sat down beside her and put a reassuring arm around her and she melted into his embrace as tears began to stream down her face.

"I am so sorry Harry, I am so sorry for everything, I never meant for it to happen."

"Hey, its ok, don't blame yourself."

"I am sorry for lying to you Harry."

"It's ok 'Mione, everything will be ok."

"No it wont, oh Harry, there is so much more happening, and I want to tell you, I really do, but I cant. I promised I wouldn't Harry, I am so sorry."

"It's ok 'Mione, who did you promise?"

"Dumbledore." She sniffled

"Hermione, look at me." He lifted her head gentle so that they were looking at each other. "You and R-Ron think that I tell you everything, but the truth is there are so many things that Professor Dumbledore makes me swear not to tell anyone, even you guys. I keep secrets too, sometimes you have to. And if it is from him then there is most likely a very good reason why he doesn't want people to know. I trust him. And I trust you. I understand if you can't tell me anything, or even if you just don't want to tell me anything, but please stop avoiding me and please know that I am always here for you, even if you just need a shoulder to cry on. Ok?" She nodded and slouched back into his embrace. They sat like that for a few minutes as Hermione cried out all of her frustration and anger. When she was done Harry's shoulder was wet and they were both sore from their sitting positions but Hermione felt so much better.

"Here," Harry pulled out a plate of pumpkin pasties, "I brought you some lunch."

"Thanks Harry." Hermione smiled and began nibbling on one of them.

"Is there anything you want to talk about?" he asked her gently. Hermione paused for a moment before gently nodding her head.

"I think I need to tell you about Krum." And so for the next half an hour she spilled forth the story of her relationship with Krum, ending with Professor Snape saving her and Draco coming to talk to her. She knew that it was a lot for him to take in and so she sat and waited for him to absorb it all.

"Oh," he said after a while. "Wow." He turned to face her. "You are ok now though, aren't you." She tentatively nodded and saw his shoulders slump in relief. "Oh Hermione, I am so sorry for not noticing. I should have paid more attention to you, I should have not believed your lame excuses, and I should have-"

"Harry, I didn't want you to know, so I hid it from you. And the fact that you trusted me means a lot to me. Even though you could see that I wasn't telling you the whole truth you didn't pry. Thank you for trusting me Harry." She hugged him.

"So you and Malfoy are pretty good friends now huh?"

"Only in private." She nodded. There was silence for a moment.

"And Snape, I mean, wow. I am glad he is on our side." Harry laughed. The tension was broken and Hermione was suddenly feeling a great deal better. They both laughed until their sides hurt even though they didn't really know what they were laughing about any more.

That night Hermione slept in her own bed again, despite the cold and loneliness she slept reasonably well again and it came as a bit of a relief to know that she would not be dependant on Professor Snape's night time company for the rest of her life. Though she had to admit, even if only to herself, that she was disappointed that she didn't see her husband until potions that afternoon and was shocked to see him looking so tired. No chance arised in which she could talk to him, however, and even when she purposely told Neville in a loud voice the next step, he still did not even look at her, let alone assign her detention as she had thought he would.

The next couple of days passed without insident, Snape was his old grumpy self, though still looking slightly worse for wear. Harry and Hermione were talking again. The roomers had died down and even Ron managed a hello one morning. And of course, Hermiones mind was working overtime divising plans and working out the best way to put them into action. It wasn't until the second last day of school that Hermione put her plan into action.

"Harry, can I ask you a favour?" It was the second last dinner at Hogwarts before everyone left, well almost everyone, and most of the students were busy shoveling food into their mouths. Harry paused in this act and looked at her.

"Sure 'Mione, what is it?" Hermione could feel the eyes of her husband watching her, although they hadn't spoken since the argument about her going home, she did not fail to notice that he watched her like a hawk. But not only that, several of the students that were in ear shot suddenly fell silent. Despite the lax in roomers, no questions had been answered yet and everyone was still waiting for Hermione to let slip some vital piece of information that would send the scandals back into the gossip channels.

"Not here." She muttered, and both of them returned to their meals.


	10. Chapter 10

Disclaimer: Not mine, wish snape were though, and not making any more, that's why I'm broke

Disclaimer: Not mine, wish snape were though, and not making any more, that's why I'm broke!!

I AM SOOOOOOOOOO SORRY!!

I know it has been ages since my last update and I hope you can all forgive me!!

This Chapter is for Snow white (if that is your real name) who was talking to my friend Lolita and she suggested to Snow white to read this and found out that she already was!!

I am in a writing mood today so I am hoping to get the next chapter up today too but if not I don't think there will be any time over the weekend so the next one WILL be Monday at the latest!!

Chapter 10

The morning of the first day of the school holidays arrived, and she was nervous. Hermione had spent a large amount of time trying and planning. One small mistake and everything would be ruined. Grabbing her trunk and the invisibility cloak from her bed she quickly locked the door from the inside. A moment later Hermione heard the signal and quickly opened the window into her room. Harry sat on his broom, hovering inches away from where she stood. She passed the trunk through to him before throwing him a quick thumbs up and wrapping the invisibility cloak around her.

"You know 'Mione, you could just come down on the broom with me." Harry spoke to the floating head, the only part of Hermione still visible.

"I am not _that _desperate Harry. I will be fine. See you on the train." As she finished speaking she lifted the hood of the cloak over her head and disappeared completely. A moment later the window shut, seemingly of its own accord, and Harry watched as the door that lead to the bathroom opened and the shut a moment later. Sighing, he turned his broom back towards his dorm.

Dobby was happy to accept two trunks instead of one from the boy who had set him free and did not even think to mention it as he and the other house-elves collected the trunks to be packed onto the Hogwarts express.

Ron and Ginny couldn't help but notice Harry's strange behaviour throughout breakfast, which was a good thing because it took their attention away from the absence of Hermione. Professor Snape, however, noticed her absence keenly and decided that he would pay her a visit after breakfast, just to make sure that she was ok.

Although she claimed to be getting plenty of sleep, he could see clearly in her face that the nightmares still plagued her, even if they were less violent. Turning his attention back to his meal he could not help but be angry with the man on his right. It had been almost a week since he and Miss Granger had argued about her destination for the holidays and since then they had barely spoken a word to each other. He purposely ignored her in class, despite her attempts to gain his attention, and had avoided her at all costs outside of class. He would not lie to his wife, even for Albus, and if that meant not talking to her than he guessed he had no other option.

Her friends did not yet seem to know about her staying at Hogwarts for the Christmas holidays as they all looked around them in confusion while they waited on the platform for the train to arrive. Ron went so far as to ask Draco if he had seen her. To which Draco spat angrily back that he wouldn't waste the time of day to even look at her, let alone find out her whereabouts. Only Severus caught the tiniest flicker of worry that crossed his eyes. Before he had a moment to question the boy on his fears, however, a loud whistle blew and the train arrived. Students quickly bustled on, rushing to get a carriage with only their friends. No one noticed Harry hold the train door open for longer than was necessary, nor did they notice that he seem to, very briefly, have a conversation with himself.

Harry, Ron, Ginny, Neville and Luna sat in the six-seater carriage talking quietly amongst themselves. None of them noticed the extra trunk above them, nor did they wonder why Harry and Ginny sat so close together, leaving one whole third of the seat empty. It wasn't until Draco entered for a bit of pre-holiday taunting that anyone besides Harry and Hermione knew that she was even there.

As it was, Draco needed to talk to Harry privately, he knew that Hermione had told him about their friendship but he didn't know who else knew. Knowing that if he tried to get Harry by himself Ron would be sure to follow, he had written a note that he planed to pass to Harry. As he opened the door and spied the empty seat beside Harry he couldn't believe his luck. After a few minutes of teasing and taunting he descended into the room with all of the grace of a Malfoy and took his seat next to Harry, but not before he distinctly felt someone quickly stand up from the supposedly empty seat. Change of plans.

"Potter," he drawled, "I hear you have lost one of your precious golden tri."

"What do you want Malfoy?" Harry bit back; keeping in the forefront of his mind that Malfoy was now good friends with Hermione and could be genuinely concerned for his friend.

"Tell me, is she lost, or has she merely-" he paused, hoping that Harry would understand his meaning "-disappeared?" Harry glared at the blond boy. He had taken Hermiones seat, so there was a high chance he had felt her get up. She hadn't had much time.

"Disappearing is one of her specialities, or didn't you know that she can do just about anything she pleases." His eyes narrowed. Hermione had never told him why she had to leave in secret. At first he thought that it had something to do with Krum, now he had other suspicions.

"Your bad habits must have rubbed off on her Potter, she never used to disobey teachers." Harry was obviously confused by this comment. Draco paused for a moment, he wasn't sure if Harry knew the reason why Hermione was meant to be staying behind at Hogwarts but he had assumed from his previous comment that he did. He knew that he needed to have a private conversation with Harry before something was said that shouldn't be. Slipping Harry the note without anyone noticing, he stood up and left the carriage without another word.

Four members of the room looked around at each other in complete confusion while both Harry and Hermione read the note without anyone seeing. After a good five minutes of waiting, in which the conversation had turned from the odd behaviour of the head boy back to the usual gossip of the group, Harry stood and quickly excused himself. Hermione silently followed.

Completely unaware of Hermiones presence, and not even realising that she too had read the note, Harry walked as fast as he could without being conspicuous towards the meeting place that Malfoy had said. The Head toilets. They would not be disturbed in there, Draco had purposely not told anyone except Harry the password and as far as either of the boys new, Hermione did not know it.

Checking quickly that no one was watching, Harry slipped into the Heads compartment and hurried to the other side where the door to the bathroom stood. Hermione had not managed to squeeze in after Harry into the heads compartment as he had been too fast, so she waited a moment until she was sure that he would be in the bathroom be she too quickly checked that no one was watching and slipped inside. She stood at the bathroom door with her ear pressed firmly against the panel but could not hear anything. Typical, she thought. On a muggle train everyone would be able to hear so well that they would know what part of the bowl you hit. In the magical world, they but up silencing charms. Knowing that even if Draco didn't know she was on board he was about to find out anyway, she whispered the password and stepped inside. Both boys turned to face the open door and watched as it shut on its own accord.

"Hermione?" Draco whispered. Removing the cloak to reveal herself seemed to put Draco at ease, but only for a moment. "Merlin Hermione do you know how much trouble you are going to be in. he raced up and enveloped her in a hug, Harry's presence all but forgotten. "You know there are reasons for rules. And Snape never does anything without a reason. What are you doing here?"

"Snape?" Harry burst out, though his voice no longer held the same amount of anger at his name as it used to there was defiantly still hostility in his words. "What does Snape have to do with this?"

"I take it that means you don't know that he forbade her from leaving Hogwarts on pain of death over the Holidays then?" Draco released his hold on Hermione and tuned back to Harry.

"Snape was the reason you wanted to be snuck out of the castle. If I had know that-" he paused in mid sentence, knowing that he was treading on thin ice.

"What Harry, you wouldn't have helped me?"

"No, of course I would have helped you, but Malfoy is right, don't you think that the professors would have had a good reason not to let you leave."

"Yeah, they don't want me to see my parents." She bit back angrily.

"But why?" Harry tried to reason with her logically.

"I don't know Harry, no one would tell me anything. For all I know my parents are on the verge of death and they don't want to tell me so they keeping me locked up." The tears that had been welling up in her eyes came spilling down her cheeks as the fear and frustration from the last couple of days finally surfaced. Harry ran to give her a hug. He understood how she felt now. He hated the Dursleys, but he still feared that they would be attacked. How must she feel, she loves her parents.

"Don't worry 'Mione." Draco spoke up. "They would only do that if your parents were actually dead, not just on the edge." As soon as the words left his mouth Draco regretted them. Harry glared at him and Hermiones sobs turned into full-blown crying.

"Good one Malfoy." Harry bit as he turned his attention back to the girl in his arms. "It's ok 'Mione, they are gonna be fine."

…………………………………………………………..

Professor Snape tore though the castle in a rage. He could not find her anywhere and he knew that it would not be too far fetched to believe her capable of escape. Reaching the Heads rooms in record time, he proceeded through the common room and began banging heavily on the head girls' door. There was no answer. After five minutes with still no answer he began to throw every possible unlocking spell at it that he could think of. When still he could not enter he tried Dracos' door. This door did not stop him, nor did the next into the bathroom but he came across the same problem as before when he tried to enter Hermiones' room from the bathroom.

Rushing back down to his own quarters and ignoring the looks of concerned teachers and students alike as they feared for their own lives as well as his sanity, he reached his quarters and began the assent again to the head girls' rooms only this time through the narrow corridor that the Headmaster had build. Just as he suspected, the room was empty. Her trunk was gone and so was she.

"Dobby!" the infuriated professor shouted, within an instant the happy house-elf was at his side, it was less than an instant later when his smile dropped.

"You is calling for Dobby Master Snape." Taking a moment to control himself, Snape rounded on the small creature.

"Yes, was a trunk removed from this room but you or any of the other house-elves?" Dobby shook his head. "Did you or any of the other house-elves remove anything from this room?" once again Dobby shook his head. Deciding to be more direct, he paused for a moment. "I am looking for Miss Grangers trunk, do you know where it is?" Dobby nodded at this. "Well, tell me."

"It is on the train Master Snape, on its ways to London."

"If none of you removed it from this room then how did it get there?" Snapes irritation was rising."

"It was with Mister Potters' trunk. He is asking Dobby to take it for him." That was all Severus needed to hear. Dismissing Dobby with a wave of his hand, he rushed back down to his own quarters; there was only one way that he would be able to catch up with the moving train now. After a shout but angry floo to the Headmaster, Professor Snape grabbed his broom from the cupboard and raced towards the Great entrance, praying that he wasn't too late.


	11. Chapter 11

I know, I know

I know, I know. You love to hate me and you hate to love me. No chapters for ages and the two in one day. And news – chapter 12 already started!!

Oh, and can someone please tell me if I am spelling any names/places/houses wrong. I suck at spelling and I cant find a good canon site to check it against (fell free to let me know if you know a good one). Enjoy.

P.S.A.N. as many of you may or may not know or not know I am also currently writing another hg/ss ff. due to my complete and utter inability to write un-spasmodically and rather sporadically I plan to have a good deal, if not all, of this ff finished before I begin to post it. Just thought I would let you know!!

Chapter 11

She was not with her friends, but then again neither was Potter. The Heads compartment then. Students ran terrified in every direction as Professor Snape billowed through the train broom still in hand. His anger only had time to multiply as he had searched for her but somewhere deep down inside, to deep for him to acknowledge its existence, he felt a little sorry for her, not just for being kept out of the loop about her parents, but also because of the trouble she was about to be in with him.

He opened the door surprisingly quietly for someone in such a rage only to find the room empty. He was just about to storm from the room when he noticed that the bathroom door was glowing slightly in one spot. It was occupied.

Not wanting to walk in on anyone on the toilet, the potions master placed his broom on a chair and quickly disabled the silencing charm. Immediately the sound of soft sobbing reached his ears. Just before he entered, though, a voice spoke. He paused.

"Don't worry 'Mione." He recognised the voice straight away as Draco's. "They would only do that if your parents were actually dead, not just on the edge." Stupid boy, he thought as the sobbing became harder. Once again he went to enter, but once again he paused as another voice emitted from the bathroom.

"Good one Malfoy." What the hell was Potter doing in the bathroom? "It's ok 'Mione, they are gonna be fine."

All three occupants were silent for a moment, like the calm before the storm; even Hermione had stopped her irrational sobbing in an attempt to calm herself, although tears still streamed down her face. None of them knew the danger that they were in.

"I can assure you that your parents are fine Miss Granger." All three of them turned to see the foreboding presence of their potions master standing in their only escape route. "It would be your own safety that I would be more concerned about at the moment." No one dared speak for a moment. It was Hermione who broke the silence.

"I will not go back to Hogwarts with you Professor, not until I go home and see my parents." All semblance of fear and anguish had left her face and now it held nothing but defiance.

"Out, both of you." No one moved despite the professors' order. "Mister Potter and Mister Malfoy, if you do not leave this room now you will very shortly find yourself unable to complete such a simple task as that ever again. Now OUT!" both boys jumped slightly at the last word that was spoken with such volume that the room shook. "As Draco passed him he stopped the white faced boy with his hand. "I will speak to you later about this. You knew she was not to leave Hogwarts." Draco said nothing. He knew his godfather would not listen to him at the moment. It turned out that he didn't need to say anything.

"Professor Snape, sir." The almost timid voice of Harry drifted to his ears. The professor descended on him, causing Harry to take a step backwards, but this did not stop him speaking. "Malfoy had nothing to do with it. It was only a couple of minutes ago that he was telling us off for having smuggled Hermione out of Hogwarts." Draco suddenly knew what it was like to have true friends, and he couldn't help the smile that spread across his face.

"What are you smirking at?" His godfathers question brought him out of his thoughts

"What is more unbelievable to you Severus," he turned to look at the potions master and was glad to detect that the use of his first name in public had irritated him. "Is it the face that Harry Potter is standing up to you, or that Harry Potter is standing up for me?" Draco did not receive an answer. Instead he was pushed forcefully through the door and it was slammed shut in the two boys faces.

Hermione paled more, but the defiance was still in her eyes.

"What the hell were you thinking Miss Granger?" He snapped at her. "Do you have any idea what kind of trouble you are in? You could be expelled!"

"Good," she spat back angrily at his shocked face. "Maybe then I will get to see my parents."

"And is seeing them really worth throwing away the rest of your life?"

"No professor, but at the moment it is most certainly worth throwing away my education."

"What has gotten into your head Miss Granger? You have always been such a rational and logical student. Why in Merlins name would you do this?"

Outside the bathroom the two boys looked at each other. It had only taken them a moment to realize that the silencing charm had been disarmed. Now they both faced the moral dilemma of whether or not to eavesdrop. It had not been much longer after this that they both had their ears pressed firmly against the door in an attempt to catch every word that was spoken.

"Because I will probably be dead within a year, what good does education do you in a graveyard, and for all I know my parents might already be dead. They have not replied to one of my owls all term, and you lot won't tell me anything. I only had my imagination to help me out and you can see where that lead me."

"Miss Granger, your parents were-" he stopped mid sentence before muttering a 'damn it' under his breath. "Your parents are safe."

"What were you about to say?"

"That is all I can tell you Miss Granger."

"No, what were you about to say?" She latched onto her husbands cloak and looked imploringly up at him. Her eyes were still bloodshot from crying but her cheeks were flushed red in anger.

"I can not tell you Miss Granger, now please release me, we must go to the back of the train to return to Hogwarts and I will not have you dragging off me."

"I am not going back to Hogwarts, I am going home, to be with my parents."

"Yours parents aren't home Miss Granger." He knew he would regret saying that.

"Then I will go to their dentistry."

"They are not there either. Miss Granger please, this is not the time or the place for this discussion."

"No, but it never is, is it. Where are they then?"

"Safe." Her grip tightened on him.

"Where are they?" She emphasized every word.

"Safe." He said again as he tried to untangle himself from the girl.

"Why aren't they at work?"

"Because they- arh. Damn you Albus I know, why don't you just come here and tell her." Hermoines' grip loosened at the odd outburst from the professor. Realization suddenly dawned on her.

"You mean you _can't_ tell me, not you don't want to tell me."

"That is what I have been saying."

"Is it only me you cant tell?"

"What do you mean?" She released him totally from her grip and opened the bathroom door. The breath that she had taken so that she could call out to her two friends fell from her lips with little sound as they tumbled in. Quickly standing up, both boys spent far more time than necessary brushing off their cloths. When they finally lifted their heads they both had a guilty look on their faces.

"You rang." Harry spoke nervously.

"Tell them." Hermione spoke to the professor but her eyes never stopped darting between Harry and Draco with a look of comprehension.

"What?" All three males replied.

"Tell them what happened to my parents, then they can tell me." Draco beamed at her, his look full of pride.

"My little Griffindor is all grown up," he spoke in a fake choked up voice as he wiped an imaginary tear from his eye. "And she has blossomed into a beautiful Slytherin." Hermione whacked his arm playfully before turning back to the professor. A look of determination crossed the mans face and with a small nod he motioned for the door.

"Out." He ordered, though his voice was nowhere near as bitting as it had been before.

It was almost fifteen minutes later and Hermione was still pacing around the Heads compartment. She had tried to listen through the door as Harry and Draco had done but one of them, she presumed the eldest occupant of the room, had remembered to re-cast the silencing spell. The sight of the broomstick on the chair had caused her a distraction for several minutes but now her irrational fears were mounting again. He had said over and over that they were safe, but safe did not mean healthy. The bathroom door opened behind her and she spun around quickly. At the sight of Harry and Draco's ashen faces her knees went weak and if had not been for the chair to catch her she would have fallen to the floor. Seeing this reaction, both boys hurried to waylay her fears.

"They're ok 'Mione." Harry assured her as they rushed forward.

"No one died, and the injures were really minor." Draco continued as they each took a seat on either side of her and took one of her hands.

"The house is fine, but their business got burnt down." Harry hurried on, knowing that she needed to know everything and she needed to know now.

"They got out fine. They are in a safe house somewhere and have told everyone that business will be back to normal once the building is rebuilt. It will take a while though, 'coz really they cant go back until after the war." Draco added.

"So they are ok and you don't need to worry about them."

"Where?" Hermiones voice was surprisingly weak. Both boys looked at each other, confused.

"What do you mean?" Harry asked as he squeezed her hand lightly.

"Where are they?" she looked straight up at her husband. He still stood in the doorway of the bathroom, his arms crosses across his chest and his ankles crossed as he leaned against the doorframe. He meet her gaze and saw the fire re-ignite inside of them. He let out a sigh. Uncrossing his arms and ankles he walked over to her. He squatted down so that he could not only look at her in the eyes but so that he could look up at her.

"Only three people know the answer to that Miss Granger, and none of them are in this room."

"Dumbledore." She muttered before letting out a frustrated growl and stomping her foot.


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter 12

Sorry all, short chapter and I am not overly happy with it. It is one of those filler chapters and the fun broom ride isn't going to be until the next chapter. Please don't hate me or stop reading this story just 'coz of this chapter puppyeyes

Chapter 12

After several more minutes of discussion a voice sounded throughout the train announcing that they would be arriving at London within the hour. Hermione picked up the invisibility cloak from the floor and wrapped it back around her shoulders.

"Well," her disembodied head spoke, "We need to get back to the carriage before the others start wondering where we are. We have been gone for hours."

"Miss Granger, I thought I made it perfectly clear that you were to come back to Hogwarts with me! Your parents are not home." Hermione looked ashamed for a moment.

"I know Professor, but we are so close, cant I at least see my house, there are a few things that I would like to pick up and we are practically there anyway." She pleaded with the over-bearing man. Harry and Draco looked on, this was a battle of wits and it took all of their strength not to start placing bets.

"Whether we are almost there on not is beside the point Miss Granger, your house is unsafe, that is why your parents are not there anymore. What makes you think that I am just going to let you waltz in there?"

"Because you will be there to keep me safe?" She looked hopeful.

"No Miss Granger, both you and I are mounting that broom and I am flying us both straight back to Hogwarts." Fear suddenly spread across Hermiones face.

"I am not going anywhere near that-" she pointed wildly at the broom, "-thing. Not even if my life depended on it." Both Draco and his godfather looked at the near hysterical girl as she backed away from the wooden pole. She jumped slightly as her back came in contact with the wall but she did not remove her eyes from it.

"Miss Granger has a weakness I see." Professor Snape chuckled. Anger flared up behind her fear.

"One day I am going to- to show you a stereo and see who is scared then."

"Contrary to popular belief Miss Granger I was virtually raise as a muggle and I doubt very much that a bit of music would scare me. That is more Draco's forte." Draco looked annoyed by the comment but had become lost in the conversation so did not take its full meaning.

"Five minutes Professor, that is all I am asking. Then we can catch the next train back to Hogwarts and we could be back in time for supper." The potions master knew that this wasn't going to end until he either petrified the girl or succumbed. He was tempted, for a moment, to petrify her but knew that that would only end in him being sent out again to find her in a few days. He nodded.

"Five minutes, Miss Granger. And next time I give you an order for your own safety you will obey it!" Hermione was so happy that she almost ran up to the professor and gave him a hug, she managed to stop herself just in time and instead detoured over to Harry Draco.

Harry returned quickly to the carriage with his friends after saying goodbye to Hermione and promising to write. He quickly shoved his invisibility cloak into his pocket and opened the door to the chatting bunch who immediately bombarded him with questions about his whereabouts.

As the train pulled up to the station, Draco left Hermione and his godfather alone in the heads compartment. They were going to wait until things had quietened down before they headed out.

"Come along Miss Granger, let's get this over with." Professor Snape drawled after a few minutes. They picked up their belongings and headed out of the train. Harry was waiting patiently with Hermione's trunk which Snape promptly shrunk and put in his pocket. "I do not want to wait more time on this than I have to."

The two had been at Hermiones house for almost 15 minutes and Professor Snape was getting frustrated. She was up stairs and had insisted that he stayed down stairs, but this was taking far longer than he had anticipated. It was the almost inaudible footstep that alerted the well trained spy to the presence of someone in the backyard and within an instant he was silently running up the stairs towards his wife. He found her sitting on her bed holding what looked like a small piece of white cloth.

"Miss Granger," he whispered harshly. She looked up and quickly shoved the item in her pocket. "We must leave, now." She made to protest but glass shattered below and she quickly ran to his side.

"Apparation." She whispered. He shook his head.

"Too noisy, they don't know that we are here yet, that and the house has wards all over it. Come on Miss Granger, time to live up to your word, it is either Deatheaters or a broom ride." Hermione looked apprehensively at the broom that her husband still clutched in his hands and swallowed. "Now Miss Granger." The sound of metal clashing together rang from downstairs and spurred her into action; she ran to the window and opened it.

"How do we do this?" Severus wasted no time in mounting the broom before grabbing Hermione and sitting her side-saddle in front of him, she tensed immediately.

They were barely out of the window when Professor Snape began to regret forcing his young wife onto the broom. Already she was clutching his jacket with a vice-like grip and her breathing had become uneven. How on earth was he going to survive the whole trip back to Hogwarts with her.


	13. Chapter 13

Sorry all, It has been so long and this is only a short chapter. But I hope you all like it and I will hopefully get the next chapter up soon.

Oh and – Disclaimer, No characters are mine and I am making no money from this fanfic.

Chapter 13

To say Hermione was scared would have been an understatement. She clutched shamelessly to her husbands jacket as they flew out of her bedroom window and into the afternoon light. But what she felt at that moment was nothing compared to the fear that gripped her as the first curse whizzed passed her ear. Her small shriek was muffled as she buried her head into her husbands chest.

"Miss Granger." She almost missed the words even though they were spoken almost directly into her ears. "Miss Granger." Her husband growled again. "Get your wand and start firing back." Her mind was not processing the words. All she could think about was how far from the ground they were, and how easily she could fall from the slim piece of wood that she balanced on. "NOW Miss Granger." His shouted words shook her from her stupor but she still did not act, instead she looked up into her husbands face.

His carefully build façade was still in place but worry etched in from the edges. He looked back down at her and read the fear clearly written on her face. He knew there would be only one way to make her forget her fear and fight. He had to goad her on. "So much for Griffindor bravery." He muttered. "Or is it more that you do not know any spells that could protect us."

He watched as her eyes hardened and she opened her mouth to argue. She shut it without a word but her eyes held the challenge. She swung one leg over the broom so that she now straddled it but she was facing backwards. The position was awkward and she was forced to wrap her legs around her husbands waist so that she could keep her balance and see over his shoulder as well. More curses began to fly around them and she quickly reached for her wand. An odd grunt came from her husband but she ignored it and began casting deflection and shielding spells as well as casting a few spells back at their attackers as well.

Hermione had no idea about how long this went on for as time was distorted for her as she cast spell after spell and it wasn't until after the last deatheater had turned and fled that she became aware of her surroundings again. Fear once again gripped her as she looked down and saw the landscape flying by beneath them. Her arms flew instinctively around her husband and her legs tightened.

"Are they all gone Miss Granger?" It took Hermione a moment to realize that she had been spoken too but she nodded in response. "Good, hold on tight." Her grip tightened even more as the Professor leaned forward, increasing their already frightingly fast speed and trapping Hermione between himself and the broom.

Hermione loosened her grip enough to be able to look her husband in the face and for a moment their eyes met. In the position that they were in Hermione could not help but notice the throb that pressed against her pants. She tried to hide her knowledge of it but only an instant later the professor tore his gaze from her and concentrated on the task at hand.

The rest of the journey was made in complete silence and the moment they landed the professor dismounted and, not even waiting for her to free herself from the broom, he turned and stalked off, leaving both her and his broom at the great doors. Hermione promptly fell off the broom as soon as he was out of sight and recomposed herself. She looked around briefly to make sure no one had seen her before picking up the broom and, in a much better mood that her husband, she walked through the doors into Hogwarts and began to make her way towards her own chambers, trying along the way _not _to think of the broom ride that she had just shared with her husband.


End file.
